• LIving Near Fields Increases Pesticide Exposure
  • Driving Near Recently Sprayed Fields Exposes People to Pesticides
  • SNAP Tour of Organic Vegetable Garden
  • Learn to Manage Pests Naturally
  • Link to SK Organic Resources
  • Learn to Keep Insects Out of your Crops
  • Learn About Pesticides in Foods
  • SNAP Display at Event
  • Learn About Colony Collapse Disorder and How to Protect Bees
  • Learn To Manage Weeds Without Chemical Pesticides

Archives for 2019

Tuesday, December 31, 2019

National Geographic short videos of insect and invertebrates parasites in action

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National Geographic videos

Body Invaders (Apr 27, 2019) A parasitic wasp has injected her eggs into a caterpillar -- and now they're ready to hatch. In the Womb: Extreme Animals 

Zombie' Parasite Takes Over Insects Through Mind Control (Apr 30, 2019)  Deep in the Amazon jungle, a parasitic fungus called cordyceps infect ants and other insects in order toreproduce. 

Parasitic Wasps (Apr 28, 2009)  

Subscribe: http://bit.ly/NatGeoSubscribe
 

Saturday, December 21, 2019

Toxic Drift

In Hawai‘i, an epicenter of GM corn testing, pesticide poisoning complaints persist.

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Toxic Drift (Christopher Pala, Earth Ilsnad Journal, winter 2020)

Most doctors would not recognize the symptoms of a pesticide poisoning...........most of us have no idea when this has happened......

"Krista and Erik Maxson, who moved in next door in August 2018 from Mammoth Lakes, California, with their two toddlers, described similar symptoms: sore throats, swollen glands, constant migraines, and exhaustion. “It’s pretty intense,” Krista, 32, said in an interview at her Kamalani house in January. “I’ve never seen that before.” She said a “weird chemical smell” would sometimes waft into her son’s bedroom, on the Monsanto farm side of the house, usually just before dawn....  The Maxons moved back to Mammoth Lakes this past fall. “Erik was/is still constantly ill,” Krista wrote recently in an e-mail, with “severe throat pain (he can barely talk) and he feels as though his body is not normal…, very weak and getting worse.” Her daughter, she added, “is having a reaction in her hands and throat as well.”

'Despite research showing correlations between proximity to GMO fields and higher rates of cancer and birth defects, for years state officials took no significant action on the issue of pesticide drift. But after nearly a decade of grassroots organizing by community activists and environmental groups in the islands, the tide seemed to turn last year when Hawai‘i passed the first state law significantly regulating the companies’ spraying....GROWING COMPLAINTS ABOUT health problems from inhaled pesticides eventually led to a lawsuit in 2011 by more than 100 residents of a neighborhood in Waimea, Kauai, against DuPont Pioneer. In the lawsuit’s discovery process, the company was forced to release several years of detailed records — a first peek into a highly secretive industry. These were submitted by the plaintiffs to several experts, whose reports, so far unpublished, were obtained by the Journal....Michael DiBartolomeis, a Hawai‘i-based toxicologist, wrote that Pioneer “applied an average of 22.2 pounds of pesticides per acre for the three-year span” for which data was provided. “Pioneer has used 82 or more pesticide products containing 63 or more active ingredients representing 34 different chemical classes.” The ingredients, he added, “cause a myriad of health effects in experimental animals from repeated exposures,” including cancer and birth defects, damage to the reproductive, endocrine, immune, and nervous systems,” and to the “liver, kidney, blood, stomach, and skin.”'

filed under pesticide drift/ incidents of pesticide drift

Saturday, December 21, 2019

Scientists Find New Biocontrol to Manage Invasive Fruit Fly

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Scientists Find New Biocontrol to Manage Invasive Fruit Fly

(Beyond Pesticides, December 12, 2019) ;A breakthrough study in biological pest management has found a species of wasp can, when combined with other non-toxic methods, readily replace toxic pesticide use in the management of the invasive spotted-wing drosophila (SWD). SWD is a fruit fly originally from southeast Asia that has caused significant crop losses in the U.S. over the last decade, estimated at over $700 million each year. The success of this integrated biological approach underlines the importance of public funding for non-chemical methods of pest management.'

filed under alternatives/ insects

Saturday, December 21, 2019

Pesticides in the real world: The consequences of GMO-based intensive agriculture on native amphibians

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Pesticides in the real world: The consequences of GMO-based intensive agriculture on native amphibians  (M. Gabriela Agostinia et al, Biological Conservation, Vol. 241, Jan. 2020, 108355)

' ...we evaluated the effects (survival and mobility) of common pesticides applied by farmers (cypermethrin, chlorpyrifos, endosulfan, glyphosate, and 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) on tadpoles. We assessed these effects in four common amphibian species from South America across 91 ponds located in the Pampas of central Argentina.'

  • Tadpole survival dramatically decreased after pesticides reached the ponds.
  • 93% of surviving tadpoles exposed to insecticides, exhibited impairment of mobility.
  • Glyphosate exposures caused sublethal effects, reducing tadpole mobility in 79%.
  • We detected pesticide impacts on amphibians in real exposure scenarios.

filed under wildlife/ frogsand amphibians  

Saturday, December 21, 2019

European Union Bans Brain-Damaging Insecticide Chlorpyrifos; NY Governor Bans Aerial Application and Proposes Phase-Out of All Uses

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European Union Bans Brain-Damaging Insecticide Chlorpyrifos; NY Governor Bans Aerial Application and Proposes Phase-Out of All Uses   (Beyond Pesticides, December 11, 2019) 

'Last week, the European Union voted to ban the neurotoxic insecticides chlorpyrifos and chorpyrifos-methyl from use beginning February 1, 2020.

Yesterday, the Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo vetoed a statutory chlorpyrifos ban and issued an immediate ban on aerial application, and proposed a regulatory phase-out that bans all uses by December 2020, except use on apple tree trunks by July 21. The proposal is subject to a public comment period.'

filed under chlorpyrifos and regulatory/ international

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Glyphosate and Roundup proven to disrupt gut microbiome by inhibiting shikimate pathway

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Glyphosate and Roundup proven to disrupt gut microbiome by inhibiting shikimate pathway (GM Watch, 11 December 2019)

'The study found certain adverse effects at all doses tested, disproving regulators' assumptions that these levels have no adverse effects.'

SNAP Comment: Note the huge variation in study dosage, based on regulatory acceptable levels. Clearly, glyphosate and Roundup are not 'safe' at levels considered acceptable daily intake or 'no adverse effects'. Interesting that in most pesticide studies there are liver and/or kidney effects. After all, these organs are two of the main detoxification organs in the body. The issue with our 'dose makes the poison' based regulatory system is that we then divide the dose causing problems by 1000 or something then assume it's OK at that level. This is clearly 'baloney'.

'However, proof that glyphosate herbicides can inhibit the EPSPS enzyme and the shikimate pathway in gut bacteria has been lacking. But a new study has proven beyond doubt that this does indeed happen.
The study in rats has found that Roundup herbicide and its active ingredient glyphosate cause a dramatic increase in the levels of two substances, shikimic acid and 3-dehydroshikimic acid, in the gut, which are a direct indication that the EPSPS enzyme of the shikimic acid pathway has been severely inhibited.
In addition, the researchers found that both Roundup and glyphosate affected the microbiome at all dose levels tested, causing shifts in bacterial populations.
For the study, female rats (12 per group) were fed a daily dose of either glyphosate or a Roundup formulation approved in Europe, called MON 52276. Glyphosate and Roundup were administered via drinking water to give a glyphosate daily intake of 0.5 mg, 50 mg and 175 mg/kg body weight per day (mg/kg bw/day), which respectively represent the EU acceptable daily intake (ADI), the EU no-observed adverse effect level (NOAEL), and the US NOAEL.'
'The study also revealed that Roundup, and to a lesser extent glyphosate, damaged the liver and kidneys of the rats, even over the relatively short study period of 90 days' .with little reflected in the blood biochemistry.
'Histopathological (microscopic) examination of the liver showed that the two higher doses of Roundup caused a statistically significant and dose-dependent increase in lesions, fatty liver disease changes, and necrosis (death of tissue). In contrast, none of the control animals showed the same liver effects.'

filed under glyphosate, kidney and liver disease

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Bending to International Industry Pressure, Thailand Walks Back Toxic Chemical Bans

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Bending to International Industry Pressure, Thailand Walks Back Toxic Chemical Bans  (Beyond Pesticides, December 4, 2019)

'Last week, Thailand’s government shifted course from banning three toxic pesticides to only restricting the use of glyphosate and delaying the enforcement of bans on paraquat and chlorpyrifos. After an initially strong stance, the government is now bending to pressure from the U.S. government and the chemical-intensive farming industry... 16% of Thailand’s population is employed in the agricultural sector. The country is a substantial exporter of rice, rubber, and sugar.

While this story has indeed taken a disappointing turn, the farmer backlash offers a case study for where single-chemical bans – though they can be an important in a short-term goal – can go wrong. The focus in Thailand is on the replacement of the banned toxic chemicals with substitutes instead of holistic, organic practices that are safe for people and the environment. '

filed under legislation/international

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Assessment of Glyphosate Induced Epigenetic Transgenerational Inheritance of Pathologies and Sperm Epimutations

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Assessment of Glyphosate Induced Epigenetic Transgenerational Inheritance of Pathologies and Sperm Epimutations: Generational Toxicology Deepika Kubsad et al, www.nature.com/scientificreports, 23 April 2019)

Another first-of-its-kind study from Washington State University exposed pregnant rats to just half the rate of the commonly used herbicide Roundup that is considered safe for exposure. Researchers found that roughly 90 percent of the next two generations developed health problems by the time they were one year old, including kidney disease, obesity, or issues with their ovaries, testicles, or prostate. 

The most dramatic finding, says WSU professor of biological sciences Michael Skinner, showed about one-third of the future generations had miscarriages and/or died during pregnancy.

filed under endocrine disruption

Sunday, December 8, 2019

High Income, Peer-Pressure Correlated with Chemical-Intensive Yard Care Practices

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High Income, Peer-Pressure Correlated with Chemical-Intensive Yard Care Practices   (Beyond Pesticides, December 3, 2019) 

' Lawns cover 63,000 sq ft in the United States, four times as much land as corn, making them the largest crop in the country. So while decisions over whether to irrigate, fertilize, or spray pesticides are made at the household level, even minor changes in practices could have major impacts on the environment.

Higher income individuals are 23% more likely to irrigate their property, 26% more likely to fertilize, and 16% more likely to apply pesticides.

also discusses alternatives. 

filed under lawn/turf

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Study Finds EU Moratorium of Persistent Bee-Toxic Pesticides Cannot Eliminate Short-Term Hazards

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Study Finds EU Moratorium of Persistent Bee-Toxic Pesticides Cannot Eliminate Short-Term Hazards  (Beyond Pesticides, December 5, 2019) 

'Five years after three neonicotinoids were banned for use on bee-attractive crops in the EU, researchers found that these bee-toxic chemicals are contaminating soils and poisoning the nectar of oilseed rape (canola). The results of this research point to an immediate need to end the use of persistent environmental contaminants and promote organic practices.

They tested for imidaclopridthiamethoxam, and clothianidin residues in the nectar of winter-sown oilseed rape in from 291 oilseed rape fields in western France for five years following the EU moratorium (2014-2018).

Results show all three neonicotinoids were present at least once in the study’s time period. Imidacloprid was detected every year with “no clear declining trend,” though its prevalence fluctuated widely between years. Two samples from 2016 show residues that are five times the expected maximum concentration in nectar of a plant directly treated with imidacloprid.   Risk peaks in 2014 and 2016 indicate that 50% of honey bees were likely to die from imidacloprid on 12% of the study plots. Risk for individual wild bees was even higher.

These data illustrate that the EU moratorium, while viewed as a a critically needed step, cannot in the short-term eliminate risk from persistent pesticides for foraging bees.'

filed under bee die-off, wildlife/insects and neonicotinoids

Saturday, November 30, 2019

Ignoring Adjuvant Toxicity Falsifies the Safety Profile of Commercial Pesticides

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Ignoring Adjuvant Toxicity Falsifies the Safety Profile of Commercial Pesticides

(Robin Mesnage and Michael N. Antoniou, Frontiers in public Health,  22 January 2018)

SNAP comment: Canada and US regulatory system is based on the outdated principle of 'the dose makes the poison', not precaution. This whole concern about adjuvants (also called formulants or inerts) could start with total disclosure in ALL pesticide formulations. They are currently secret except for a few allergens and a few very toxic ones.

' Despite the known toxicity of adjuvants, they are regulated differently from active principles, with their toxic effects being generally ignored. Adjuvants are not subject to an acceptable daily intake, and they are not included in the health risk assessment of dietary exposures to pesticide residues... Urgent action is needed to lift the veil on the presence of adjuvants in food and human bodily fluids, as well as in the environment (such as in air, water, and soil) and to characterize their toxicological properties. This must be accompanied by regulatory precautionary measures to protect the environment and general human population from some toxic adjuvants that are currently missing from risk assessments.'

filed under formulants
 

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Companies that Claim Sustainable Sourcing Lack Criteria, Virtually None Includes Pesticide Use

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Companies that Claim Sustainable Sourcing Lack Criteria, Virtually None Includes Pesticide Use  (Beyond Pesticides, November 8, 2019)

'A new report out from As You Sow — 2019 Pesticides in the Pantry: Transparency and Risk in Food Supply Chains — focuses on the risks that agricultural pesticide use represents for food manufacturers, and offers recommendations and benchmarks for improvement in the areas of management and transparency.

The report connects the dots for food corporations: “The environmental damage caused by pesticides creates significant operational risk to food companies.'

Apparently a sruprisingly readable report.

filed under pesticides in food

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

City of South Miami Becomes First Organic Community in Florida

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City of South Miami Becomes First Organic Community in Florida   (Beyond Pesticides, November 21, 2019) 

'South Miami, under the direction of Mayor Phillip Stoddard, PhD, professor of Biological Science at Florida International University, has a history of leading the state in the protection of public health and the environment. In 2014, the City Commission voted to declare all of South Miami a wildlife sanctuary, thereby restricting the use of highly toxic mosquito adulticides. The move protected populations of the state’s rare and endemic wildlife, such as the Florida bonneted bat, which begins to feed on mosquitoes in the spring at the same time spraying usually begins.

The City’s move toward organic landscaping was borne out of two years of successful trials by city workers and contractors. In 2017, its landscaping request for proposals (RFP) required that, in addition to practices intended to reduce pesticide use, only certified organic or minimum risk products could be used on city property.

As the memorandum for the ordinance reads, “Thus-far this initiative has been a qualified success, allowing the City to cut down on its waste-footprint significantly at relatively little expense, and providing a model for other local government to use as guidance.”'

filed under bylaws/USA

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Increased Risk of Skin Cancer Tied to Use of Weed Killers, as Researchers Call for a Precautionary Standard

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Increased Risk of Skin Cancer Tied to Use of Weed Killers, as Researchers Call for a Precautionary Standard   (Beyond Pesticides, November 5, 2019)

'Herbicide use is associated with an increased risk of developing cutaneous melanoma, a skin cancer, according to a meta-analysis published last month in the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology. For those working on farms and in other occupations with frequent exposure to herbicides, the risk is another in a long list of pesticide-induced diseases. Ultimately, researchers suggest, “A precautionary public health safety policy that includes preventive individual counselling and surveillance to workers exposed to pesticides may be advisable.”

Herbicide exposure is linked to a long list of health effects, which are documented in Beyond Pesticides Pesticide- Induced Diseases Database.'

filed under cancer 

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Study Shows Drastic Loss of Arthropods in German Grasslands and Forests

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Study Shows Drastic Loss of Arthropods in German Grasslands and Forests  (Beyond Pesticides, November 13, 2019) 

They found that, in grasslands, arthropod:

  • Biomass declined by 67%
  • Abundance declined by 78%
  • Number of species declined by 34%

In forest sites, arthropod:

  • Biomass declined by 41%
  • Number of species declined by 36%
  • Abundance had more complicated results

The paper’s abstract sums up, “Our results suggest that major drivers of arthropod decline act at larger spatial scales, and are (at least for grasslands) associated with agriculture at the landscape level. This implies that policies need to address the landscape scale to mitigate the negative effects of land-use practices.”

It seems like the researchers stayed clear of mentioning pesticide although Beyond Pesticides adds the following:  'It’s clear that industrial agriculture is contributing to the insect apocalypse, as well as declines in birds and other yet unknown species. Yet we also know that, by eschewing pesticide use, focusing on soil health, diversification, and sustainable practices, organic and regenerative farming and land management can help reverse this decline. Join this effort by purchasing organic whenever possible, planting diverse pesticide-free habitat on your property, and encouraging your local community to follow suit. Initiatives in cities like Amsterdam, Netherlands show that this is an issue we can still address.'

filed under wildlife/insects

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Neonicotinoid Insecticides Deprive Fish of Food in Lake Shinji, Japan

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Neonicotinoid Insecticides Deprive Fish of Food in Lake Shinji, Japan  (Beyond Pesticides, November 6, 2019) 

 '90% drop in their (fish) yield. Eel catches dropped by 74%. New research, published in the journal Science, implicates the introduction of neonicotinoids to the abutting watershed in the decimation of these aquatic populations, stating, “In Lake Shinji, neonicotinoids indirectly reduced fishery yields by decreasing the abundance of invertebrates that serve as food for smelt and eels.”

filed under wildlife/ fish and neonicotinoids

Friday, November 8, 2019

In Response to a Lawsuit, EPA Proposes Review Process for Evaluating the Effects of Multiple Pesticide Ingredients on Nontarget Organisms

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In Response to a Lawsuit, EPA Proposes Review Process for Evaluating the Effects of Multiple Pesticide Ingredients on Nontarget Organisms   (Beyond Pesticides, October 11, 2019) 

' EPA’s inattention to synergistic impacts on non-target species has long been a deficiency of EPA’s pesticide review and regulation and a focus for Beyond Pesticides’ work to factor in uncertainties, or unknowns, in registering pesticides under a precautionary approach....Of EPA’s call for public comment, the National Law Review notes that, “EPA typically registers pesticide products that are not intended to protect public health without any independent evaluation of efficacy data.

The OPP document, titled Process for Receiving and Evaluating Data Supporting Assertions of Greater Than Additive (GTA) Effects in Mixtures of Pesticide Active Ingredients and Associated Guidance for Registrants, sets out the process that OPP’s Environmental Fate and Ecological Effects Division is using in its attempts to evaluate synergistic risks. However, that process reviews only those admixtures whose makers assert that their efficacy on the target weed or pest is synergistic. OPP’s narrow focus ignores all the other potential synergistic impacts — effects that may arise when organisms, whether floral or faunal, are exposed to multiple active pesticide ingredients. Such “mixing” may happen during industry formulation of a product, in an applicator’s garage or barn, or at the organismic point of exposure via air, water, soil, and/or food.''  includes link to document.

filed under risk assessment

Friday, November 8, 2019

U.S. Consumers Eating Pesticide Residues in Fruits and Vegetables, according to Government Report

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U.S. Consumers Eating Pesticide Residues in Fruits and Vegetables, according to Government Report   (Beyond Pesticides, November 1, 2019) 

'Among the unsavory metrics in the 2017 report — based on samples from California, New York, Texas, Kansas, and Wisconsin — are that pesticide residues were found in 84% of domestic fruits, 53% of vegetables, 42% of grains, and 73% of samples categorized as “other” (nuts, seeds, oils, honey, candy, beverages, spices, multi-ingredient products, and dietary supplements). Small percentages (less than 3%) of domestic grains, fruits, and “other” products had “violative” levels of residues — those that register above the tolerances set by EPA. However, nearly 10% of vegetables harbored violative levels of pesticide residues. Includes levels of residues in specific U.S. commodities tested. Across 6,069 samples, 221 discrete pesticide compounds were detected, including six that had never previously been found via the FDA monitoring program, including DDT. Neonicotinoids, fungicides and organophosphates were also well represented.

filed under pesticides in foods

Friday, November 8, 2019

Bees Enrich Farmers More than Synthetic Inputs, According to Study

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Bees Enrich Farmers More than Synthetic Inputs, According to Study  (Beyond Pesticides, October 23, 2019)

The study was performed in France. 'Addressing the ongoing question of how much natural ecosystem services are worth, scientists analyzed the costs and benefits of biodiversity versus agrichemicals. Researchers found the value pollinators add to oilseed rape (OSR) production by increasing yields is higher than synthetic chemical inputs, which are costly to farmers and decrease beneficial insect abundance. The title of the study touts the impressive findings, “Bee pollination outperforms pesticides for oilseed crop production and profitability.”

The researchers state, “Based on a very large dataset spanning 4 and 6 years, this study provides a comprehensive analysis of the synergy and antagonism between agrochemical applications and biodiversity, and their effects on yield and income.”

filed under wildlife/insects and bee die-off

Friday, November 8, 2019

Unauthorized Marijuana Vaping Cartridges Contain Toxic Pesticides and Could Cause Vaping-Related Illness

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Unauthorized Marijuana Vaping Cartridges Contain Toxic Pesticides and Could Cause Vaping-Related Illness  (Beyond Pesticides, October 10, 2019) 

Cartridges from legal dispensary had no heavy metals, pesticides, or residual solvents. 10 out of the 10 of the black-market products tested were positive for pesticides. CannaSafe, the laboratory, reported that some of the unregulated products contained the fungicide myclobutanil. Heating myclobutanil can cause it to break down into harmful products, including hydrogen cyanide – a known potent carcinogen. Other pesticides detected included mixtures of the following pesticide or pesticide formula ingredient: fipronil, piperonyl butoxide, permethrin, malathion, and others (link to full test results).

filed under pesticides in drugs

Friday, November 8, 2019

Environmental Groups Are Victorious in Lawsuit that Pushes EPA to Protect Endangered Species

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Environmental Groups Are Victorious in Lawsuit that Pushes EPA to Protect Endangered Species  (Beyond Pesticides, October 31, 2019)

'Last week the U.S. District Court in San Francisco ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must assess the risk eight toxic pesticides pose to protected organisms: atrazine, carbaryl, methomyl, and simazine as well as rodenticides brodifacoum, bromadiolone, warfarin and zinc phosphide.  “It is inappropriate that environmental groups are forced to expend time and resources in order to get EPA to simply do its job as the law requires,” says Barbara Dale, Public Education Manager at Beyond Pesticides. also includes some alarming “fun” facts on a few of these toxic chemicals.

more on legislation/regulatory/USA and wildlife

Friday, November 8, 2019

Despite Damning Scientific Evidence, EPA Dismisses Link Between Parkinson’s and Exposure to the Herbicide Paraquat

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Despite Damning Scientific Evidence, EPA Dismisses Link Between Parkinson’s and Exposure to the Herbicide Paraquat  (Beyond Pesticides, October 17, 2019)

'In response to this growing body of literature, EPA conducted an epidemiological evaluation of published studies on the link between paraquat and Parkinson’s. But, in a similar manner to how the agency conducted its epidemiological evaluation of pyrethroids, EPA made broad statements dismissing scientific evidence as insufficient...

On the link between paraquat and Parkinson’s, “The data is overwhelming” said Samuel M. Goldman, MD, an epidemiologist in the San Francisco Veterans Affairs health system to the New York Times. “I’m not a farmer, I don’t need to kill weeds, but I have to believe there are less dangerous options out there.”

An EPA environmental review conducted as part of the reregistration process found evidence of significant reproductive harm to small mammals, and determined that songbirds may be exposed to levels well beyond lethal concentrations known to cause death. Threats to mammals and songbirds are particularly concerning in light of significant declines in these animal groups.'

SNAP Comment: There are still 3 paraquat products registered by Syngenta in Canada, including one commercial product, Gramoxone, re-registered in 2018 until 2013.

filed under nervous system effects/Parkinson's

Friday, November 8, 2019

Companies that Claim Sustainable Sourcing Lack Criteria, Virtually None Includes Pesticide Use

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Companies that Claim Sustainable Sourcing Lack Criteria, Virtually None Includes Pesticide Use   (Beyond Pesticides, November 8, 2019)

'A new report out from As You Sow2019 Pesticides in the Pantry: Transparency and Risk in Food Supply Chains — focuses on the risks that agricultural pesticide use represents for food manufacturers, and offers recommendations and benchmarks for improvement in the areas of management and transparency... .As an organization that works on shareholder advocacy to “harness shareholder power to create lasting change that benefits people, planet, and profit,” As You Sow is responding to investor and shareholder demand that companies reduce the presence of synthetic pesticide chemicals in their supply chains.'

filed under Pesticides in Food 

Friday, November 8, 2019

Study Adds to Evidence that Organic Fruit Consumption Leads to Lowers Levels of Pesticide Contamination in Children, Pregnant Women

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Study Adds to Evidence that Organic Fruit Consumption Leads to Lowers Levels of Pesticide Contamination in Children, Pregnant Women  (Beyond Pesticides, October 24, 2019)

'Results found that high self-reported fish and seafood consumption (more than 4 times per week) is associated with greater contamination by several chemicals and heavy metals when compared to those who reportedly ate fish less than 2 times per week. Pregnant mothers in the high consumption group had levels of PCBs 15% higher, mercury 89% and arsenic 487% higher than the low consumption group, with similar results seen for the children tested.

Researchers also found positive associations between eating fruit and levels of organophosphate pesticides in urine for both children and pregnant women

filed under pesticides in foods

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Canadian Testing Shows Glyphosate Contamination in Popular Food Products

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Canadian Testing Shows Glyphosate Contamination in Popular Food Products (Sustainable Pulse, Sep 10 2018)

'New testing conducted by an independent lab found glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup, in common children’s lunch foods and snacks sold in Canada.

Chickpea and wheat-based products were among the highest contaminated because these crops are often sprayed with glyphosate just weeks before they are harvested. Canadian growers are concerned about current levels of contamination because of impacts on exports due to higher standards in other countries.'

filed under pesticides in food

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Controversial Pesticides Are Suspected Of Starving Fish

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Controversial Pesticides Are Suspected Of Starving Fish ( Ron Charles, PBS, November 2, 2019)

Japanese story about neonicotinoids. The only fish thriving in the lake eats algae as well as invertebrates.

filed under Wildlife/fish More on pesticides and wildlife

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Dead Bird Nests Contain 36 Different Pesticides, Including DDT

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Dead Bird Nests Contain 36 Different Pesticides, Including DDT ( Annie Kin, https://achnews.orgPosted onSeptember 16, 2019

'“We found a total of 36 different pesticides in 95 mesh nests,” Geert Gommers, a pesticide expert said in a statement.' European study of blue Tit babies in nests. Link to original paper. 

filed under wildlife/birds

Friday, October 4, 2019

Meet pesticides, the silent bird killers that protect our crops

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Meet pesticides, the silent bird killers that protect our crops (BirdLife International, 9 February 2016)
An article that is still very relevant. Story from Europe and SE Asia. special pesticides called avicides have been developed especially to kill problem birds, they get poisoned from eating treated seeds, many raptors get poisoned from eating poisoned carcasses for other predators such as coyotes.
Refers to one study from the Convention on Migratory Species (2014) estimating that pesticides accidentally kill between 0.25 and 8.9 birds per hectare of agricultural area each year. 

filed under wildlife/birds
 

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Glyphosate can trigger aggressive breast cancer when combined with another risk factor

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Glyphosate can trigger aggressive breast cancer when combined with another risk factor

(GM Watch,  01 October 2019) 'The new study shows that a very low concentration of glyphosate (in the parts per trillion range and thus environmentally relevant for everyone) can trigger breast cancer when combined with another risk factor.

Normally when the DNA of a gene is tagged by methylation, it is not expressed. When the methylation tags are removed, the gene can be reactivated. Such changes in gene function caused by alterations in the profile of DNA methylation tags are known to be a contributing factor to cancer formation (carcinogenesis).

This appears to have been the case in this study, as when a second cancer-inducing agent was combined with the glyphosate, this led to the transformation of the human breast cells to a cancerous state.

The second cancer-inducing agent was a class of small RNA molecules known as microRNA, which are involved in the regulation of gene expression...micro-RNA182-5p is a naturally occurring gene regulatory molecule that is present in everyone. Dysfunction of microRNA182-5p has been linked with cancers of different types.

She (Sophie Lelievre) said, “What was particularly alarming about the tumour growth was that it wasn’t the usual type of breast cancer we see in older women. It was the more aggressive form found in younger women, also known as luminal B cancer.”

filed under cancer/links between individual chemicals....

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Common Fungicides’ Use Leads to Algae Blooms

The agricultural fungicides tebuconazole and azoxystrobin were tested

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Common Fungicides’ Use Leads to Algae Blooms

(Beyond Pesticides, October 1, 2019) ...'real world complexities as described in the current study are not reviewed ( by regulatory agencies). This gap in our assessment can lead to significant adverse effects not just on individual species, but entire ecosystems....The agricultural fungicides tebuconazole and azoxystrobin were tested. These results indicate that use of the fungicide may be facilitating harmful algae blooms by suppressing fungal pathogens that may otherwise control their growth...There is a need not only to consider the issue raised by the current study, but the wide ranging indirect impacts of pesticide use.'

filed under wildlife/aquatic organisms

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Are Neonicotinoids really just the new DDT?

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Are Neonicotinoids really just the new DDT?  (by Stephen Leahy, DecafNation, Jan 15, 2019)

'In a new study published in the science journal Nature, Dutch researchers linked the steady decline of warblers, skylarks, sparrows, and starlings and other birds to the introduction of imidacloprid, the most commonly used neonicotinoid, in the late 1990s. Regions with the heaviest levels of this nerve poison in soil and water had the biggest declines in bird numbers that eat and rely on insects during the breeding season.'

“Instead of wiping out the top of the food chain, killing hawks and eagles as DDT did, neonics are wiping out the bottom of the food chain,” says Hendrickson. 

plus Canadian product names and statistics, quotes from more studies and regulations.

filed under wildlife/birds

Monday, September 30, 2019

New neuroimaging testing shows how prenatal exposure to organophosphate pesticides changes the development of children’s brains

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New neuroimaging testing shows how prenatal exposure to organophosphate pesticides changes the development of children’s brains

(The Organic Center, Sep 23, 2019) . OP (Organophosphate) exposure was associated with altered brain activation during tasks of executive function. For example, with a 10-fold increase in total OP pesticide use within 1 km of maternal residence during pregnancy, there was a bilateral decrease in brain activation in the prefrontal cortex during a cognitive flexibility task. We also found that prenatal OP exposure was associated with sex differences in brain activation during a language comprehension task. This first functional neuroimaging study of prenatal OP exposure suggests that pesticides may impact cortical brain activation, which could underlie previously reported OP-related associations with cognitive and behavioral function.

filed under children

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Glyphosate decreases mycorrhizal colonization and affects plant-soil feedback

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Glyphosate decreases mycorrhizal colonization and affects plant-soil feedback (

(Marjo Helander et al, Science of The Total Environment,Volume 642, 15 November 2018, Pages 285-291)

Highlights

  • •In northern ecosystems glyphosate residues are detected in crop plants the following growing season.
  • • Arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization is decreased in glyphosate treated plants.
  • •The magnitude of mycorrhizal reduction is dependent on tilling and soil history.

filed under glyphosate

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Endangered Species new page

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 wildlife/ Endangered Species

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Endangered Wildlife Are Getting Dosed With Rat Poisons

Products marketed to kill rodents are instead threatening the lives of the wildlife that eat them as poisons travel up the food chain.

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Endangered Wildlife Are Getting Dosed With Rat Poisons

Products marketed to kill rodents are instead threatening the lives of the wildlife that eat them as poisons travel up the food chain. ( by Tara Lohan, The Revelator, 25 February, 2019)

California story but it could be the one of many states. your marihuana use may be responsible for poisoning animals.

'And in most cases, poisons simply aren’t needed to solve a problem, they’re just easier. “I’m amazed at just how quickly people jump to poison as a solution to a nuisance problem,” she says.'

We do sell rodenticides in Canada including at least the first and second generation ones. I believe many are labeled for domestic use meaning they can be purchased and used by anyone. Since the SaskParty was re-elected they made rodenticides legal and available to farmers in some districts for 'gopher' control. The City of Regina and Wascana are using some in indoor facilities for mice and outdoors for 'gophers' (Richardson ground squirrel). The City apparently uses rodenticides responsibly in springtime by setting it inside burrows and removing dead animals every day although I don't know what they do with them (the dump? although there seems to be little evidence of gull or raven mortality). Wascana has banned use by the public on their property (i.e.for instance the community garden) with good reason as some people used them inappropriately and dogs were poisoned. I am sure some wildlife is poisoned by rodenticides in SK, but don't have numbers. perhaps Jan Shadick can help with an answer. Any research in SK is hampered by the lack of pesticide sales data.
I don't have a page on rodenticides in particular but they are by no means the only pesticides affecting wildlife, pets or people.

filed under wildlife Endangered Species

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Fall is Here, and It’s a Great Time to Transition Your Lawn to Organic

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Saturday, September 21, 2019

Toxic Pesticides Found, Again, to Yield No Increase in Productivity or Economic Benefit for Farmers

Neonicotinoid-coated (or treated) seeds for soy beans

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Toxic Pesticides Found, Again, to Yield No Increase in Productivity or Economic Benefit for Farmers Neonicotinoid-coated (or treated) seeds for soy beans.

Toxic Pesticides Found, Again, to Yield No Increase in Productivity or Economic Benefit for Farmers Neonicotinoid-coated (or treated) seeds for soy beans.  

(Beyond Pesticides, September 20, 2019) 'The study demonstrates that use of neonicotinoids (neonics) to treat seeds — a very common use of these pesticides — actually provides negligible benefits to soybean farmers in terms of yield and overall economic benefit. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should take notice, and consider that efficacy ought to have a role in the agency’s evaluation of pesticides for registration.'

'This new research finding underscores Beyond Pesticides’ advocacy against neonic seed treatment, and duplicates some of the findings of a 2014 EPA report, which said that use of treated soybean seed provided little-to-no overall benefit in controlling insects or improving yield or quality in soybean production.'

SNAP Comment: In all the PMRA's or EPA's cost--benefitassessments, the aalleged benefits always trump any negative effects in the final evaluation. Interesting to see here how little benefits.

filed under neonicotinoids

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Mosquito fumigation may have caused mystery Havana syndrome, study says

Trump administration had charged that cognitive ailments of Canadian and US diplomats were caused by use of a secret weapon

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Mosquito fumigation may have caused mystery 'Havana syndrome', study says

Trump administration had charged that cognitive ailments of Canadian and US diplomats were caused by use of a secret weapon (BBC News, 20 September 2019)

 'The patterns of brain injury "all raise the hypothesis of recurrent, low-dose exposure to neurotoxins", the report said. Specifically, the results were "highly suggestive" of something called cholinesterase inhibitor intoxication...The study notes that tests carried out on 28 participants - seven of whom were tested both before and after being posted to Havana - support a diagnosis of brain injury acquired by diplomats and their families while in Cuba.

Unnamed pesticide in the story, likely an organophosphate because of the mode of action. I would like to add that this is not the first time people get sick from fumigation oversees. Many tourists came back from Cuba with neurological symptoms related to mosquito fumigation which apparently occurred nightly in touristy areas. Other tourists sickened and some died when hotel rooms or other accommodations have been fumigated. In many tourist destinations, the fact is that there are still many more acutely toxic pesticides registered, and very little oversight. Not that we have much oversight here in SK, with 1 PMRA and 1 provincial inspectors for 33-36% of Canadian pesticide applications...And more coverage by the Guardian- no new information. 

see also Mysterious “Havana syndrome” Linked to Neurotoxic Pesticide Exposure (Beyond Pesticides, September 24, 2019) SNAP comment: This article finally address the unaswered questions. '“There are very specific types of toxins that affect these kinds of nervous systems … and these are insecticides, pesticides, organophosphates — specific neurotoxins,” said Dr. Friedman. “So that’s why we generated the hypothesis that we then went to test in other ways.”Mass spectrometry tests found the presence of cholinesterase-inhibiting insecticides including Temephos, an organophosphate, as well as pyrethroids... The report found a correlation between individuals with strongest symptoms and the number of fumigations conducted at their residence.'

filed under pesticide poisonings/individual cases and pesticide exposure

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Study Finds that Regenerative Agriculture Is Undermined by Toxic Pesticide Use

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Study Finds that Regenerative Agriculture Is Undermined by Toxic Pesticide Use

(Beyond Pesticides, September 18, 2019) A new report published by Friends of the Earth (FOE), “Pesticides and Soil Health” highlights healthy soil as a key pillar of regenerative, organic agriculture. FOE focuses in on an often-overlooked aspect to soil health, “that eliminating or greatly reducing toxic pesticides is key to building healthy soils and ecosystems for a healthy planet.”

'Toxic chemicals damage the soil microbiota by decreasing soil microbial biomass and altering the composition of the soil microbiome. Fungi-rich soil improves productivity and increases carbon sequestration capacity, but use of pesticides results in a bacteria-dominant ecosystem. Changes in soil composition also result in “vacant ecological niches, so organisms that were rare become abundant and vice versa.” This unhealthy and imbalanced soil has reduced fertility and resilience, and plants grown in such conditions are more vulnerable to parasites and pathogens.  This degraded soil sequesters less carbon than soil with a diverse array of microbiota.

filed under pesticides in soils

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Study Finds Neonics Result in the Silent Demise of Songbirds

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Study Finds Neonics Result in the Silent Demise of Songbirds  (Beyond Pesticides, September 17, 2019) 

'Within six hours, both the ‘low’ and ‘high’ exposure group showed a significant reduction in body mass (3% and 6%, respectively) after a single dose of the neonicotinoid imidacloprid. The ‘low’ exposure group ate 8% less than the control group after dosing, while the ‘high’ exposure group reduced its intake by a staggering 70%. This is an important impact because body weight and fat storage are critical during songbird migration. Birds rest at stopover sites to refuel, and return to flight, but birds in the experiment dosed with imidacloprid stayed on average 3.5 days longer than the unexposed control group.' see also Bee-harming pesticides make migrating songbirds sick too, study shows (CBC, Sep 12, 2019) and Study Finds Three Billion Birds Lost Since 1970: “Early mornings are strangely silent where once they were filled with the beauty of bird song”  (Beyond Pesticides, September 24, 2019) This study was widely covered, even in the regular press. 

filed under wildlife/birds

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Anheuser-Busch initiative aims to help farmers transition to organic, boost organic industry

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Anheuser-Busch initiative aims to help farmers transition to organic, boost organic industry

(By Ken Roseboro, The Organic and Non-GMO Report, August 30, 2019) 

'Anheuser-Busch will pay a premium price for both the farmers’ transitional and organic crops.

They will also help farmers find markets for other crops grown in rotation with organic barley, including sugar beets, potatoes, and alfalfa.'
'Anheuser-Busch is the latest large company to launch an initiative to help farmers transition to organic production. Other companies that have launched similar initiatives include General Mills, Ardent Mills, Costco, Bunge North America, and The Andersons.'

filed under Organics/Farming

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Veteran Policy Experts Form Organic Industry Watchdog Agency

We launch this project with the backdrop of thousands of cases of fraud submitted to the USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP)

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Veteran Policy Experts Form Organic Industry Watchdog Agency   (Beyond Pesticides, September 5, 2019)  

Beyond Pesticides...has announced the formation of its new investigative arm, OrganicEye. The watchdog agency will focus on defending the time-honored philosophy and legal definition of organic farming and food production. “We are happy to announce the hiring of Mark Kastel to serve as the Director of OrganicEye,” Mr. Feldman said. Mr. Kastel, one of the founders of The Cornucopia Institute, a venerable organic farm-policy research group, brings over 30 years of diverse involvement in the organic industry.

'Mr. Kastel stated,” We launch this project with the backdrop of thousands of cases of fraud submitted to the USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP), a number of independent audits by the agency’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) criticizing their weak oversight of certifiers and poor record of bringing fraudulent operations to justice.” A recent legally mandated peer review also sharply criticized USDA oversight of documented cases of illegal organic certificates, domestic fraud, and imports laundering conventional commodities as organic.

filed under Organics

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Forest spraying violates treaty: Elders

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Forest spraying violates treaty: Elders  (by Helen Morley, The Daily Press, September 5, 2019) 

SNAP Comment: It doesn't matter that the PMRA is sticking by their evaluation of glyphosate as safe. The main issue here is that it destroys the hardwoods, brush and food plants that First Nations rely on and if some survive, they are contaminated. That is what a herbicide does. Ecological consequences on a large scale are not evaluated in the pesticide registration process. How can the PMRA contest that the whole ecology of the forest isn't changed by widespread application of glyphosate? Looks to me that the First Nations might win.

filed under Legal/Litigation 

Thursday, September 12, 2019

New study finds glyphosate causes disease across several generations

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New study finds glyphosate causes disease across several generations

(The Organic and non-GMO Report, May 2, 2019) 

"But writing in the journal Scientific Reports, the researchers say they saw “dramatic increases” in several pathologies affecting the second and third generations. The second generation had “significant increases” in testis, ovary, and mammary gland diseases, as well as obesity. In third-generation males, the researchers saw a 30 percent increase in prostate disease—three times that of a control population. The third generation of females had a 40 percent increase in kidney disease, or four times that of the controls.

More than one-third of the second-generation mothers had unsuccessful pregnancies, with most of those affected dying. Two out of five males and females in the third generation were obese."

filed under glyphosatereproductive health, obesity and kidney disease

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Same Pesticides that are Killing Bees Significantly Shorten Monarch Lifespan

Neonicotinoid imidacloprid study

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Same Pesticides that are Killing Bees Significantly Shorten Monarch Lifespan

(Beyond Pesticides, September 10, 2019)

'Both groups were provided a sugar solution, with the treated group’s solution containing 23.5 parts per billion imidacloprid, a dose similar to what a butterfly could encounter in a real world scenario.

Monarchs that fed on contaminated sugar solution experienced a significantly shortened lifespan. By day 22, 78.8% of monarchs in the treatment group were dead, compared to 20% mortality within the control group. The treatment group showed marked declines before death – at day 12 displaying uncoordinated flapping of their wings and uncontrolled body vibrations that prevented them from flying.

filed under wildlife/ Insects

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Health and Environmental Groups Call on EPA to Revoke Glyphosate’s Registration

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Health and Environmental Groups Call on EPA to Revoke Glyphosate’s Registration

(Beyond Pesticides, September 4, 2019) Sixteen organizations representing health, environmental, farmer, and farmworker communities joined together yesterday to call on EPA to remove glyphosate from the marketplace. The groups cite a combination of high-profile lawsuits, environmental impacts, increasing reports of weed resistance, and growing public concern over the health effects of glyphosate in their comments on EPA’s interim reregistration review decision for the chemical. The comments warn that EPA is at risk of damaging the public’s trust in the agency’s review process for toxic pesticides. The article also ' replies to EPA’s attacks against the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

filed under glyphosate and Legislation/Regulatory/ USA

Thursday, September 12, 2019

The Pesticide Generation

Children on the Front Line

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The Pesticide Generation   Children on the Front Line  (Webdoc.France24.com,original FRANCE 24 multimedia documentary has been translated from the original in French, 2019)

A court case against glyphosate and what is happening in France about banning glyphosate. "The medical community is unambiguous: Théo’s malformations are not genetic, but definitely linked to an external factor. “Right from birth, Théo’s doctors pointed a finger at pesticides,” says Sabine, who at the time didn’t make an immediate connection to the weed killer that she used at home to spray the horse paddock. “The wake-up call came later,” she remembers. In August 2008, to be precise. Just as she did every year at the same time, Sabine treated the area with Glyper, a herbicide containing glyphosate. “It suddenly hit me; I remembered what the surgeon had told me about pesticides.” Due to the teratogenic risks of glyphosate causing malformation of embryos and foetal abnormalities cited in scientific studies, doctors say the link to Théo’s birth defects is “highly likely”. “I was exposed to glyphosate at a crucial moment in my pregnancy – during the first four weeks,” she says. “I didn’t even know I was pregnant, so I didn’t take any particular precautions.'

filed under Children and glyphosate

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Insect Freefall: What Does It Mean For Birds?

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Insect Freefall: What Does It Mean For Birds?

(Howard Youth, American Bird Conservancy, August 29, 2019) 

"Today, the world's most widely used agricultural pesticides are neonicotinoids, neurotoxins absorbed and stored in plant tissues so they repel insect pests. Neonics, as they are also known, are now banned in the European Union because of their impact on honeybees. A number of U.S. states have also introduced legislation attempting to prohibit or limit their use.

Persistent and water-soluble, neonics are highly toxic to a broad range of insects and other invertebrates. And they reach well beyond farm fields, leaching into watersheds, rising up in dust, and soaking into soil adjacent to farms, toxifying insect food plants there.

Neonics' impact on nontarget terrestrial and aquatic insects is formidable, and long-lasting as well. Depending upon soil and other factors, neonics have half-lives — the time it takes to reduce an amount of the pesticide by half — of up to 1,000 days, or nearly three years.

Although these insecticides are considered less dangerous to many vertebrates than are other pesticides, an ABC study in 2013 determined that a single neonic-coated seed can kill a bird the size of a Blue Jay."

SNAP Comment: not  ALL neonics are not banned in Europe, and only 3 will be taken out of "agricultural use* in Canada but, I believe, still allowed other uses)

filed uder Wildlife/ birds

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Study Finds Urban Runoff is a Toxic Soup Containing Dozens of Pesticides and Other Industrial Chemicals

Most sites contained 73 or more chemicals per site, with pesticides being the most frequently detected chemical group, accounting for 35% of all detections.

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Study Finds Urban Runoff is a Toxic Soup Containing Dozens of Pesticides and Other Industrial Chemicals 

(Beyond Pesticides, September 6, 2019) 'Heavy rains in urban areas bring together a toxic mixture of man-made chemicals which make their way to waterbodies at levels that can harm aquatic life, according to new research published by a team of scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Although U.S. government agencies continue to accurately identify chemical hazards in the everyday environment, precaution and action on these emerging threats has not materialized. '

'The team tested for 438 different compounds, including pesticides, pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other industrial chemicals.'

'Nearly 50% (215) of the 438 chemicals tested for were found at least once during the course of the study. Most sites contained 73 or more chemicals per site, with pesticides being the most frequently detected chemical group, accounting for 35% of all detections.

'The following chemicals were what the researches deemed “pervasive across all samples:” DEET, nicotine, cotinine (nicotine metabolite), caffeine, carbendazim (a metabolite of the pesticide benomyl), methyl-1H-benzotriazole (industrial corrosion inhibitor), creosol (wood preservative), fipronil, bisphenol A (BPA), pluoranthene (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, PAH), and pyrene (PAH). Each of these chemicals were found in over 90% of samples tested. (NOTE: pesticides in italics).   Nearly 75% of imidacloprid detections exceeded EPA’s benchmark for chronic impacts to aquatic life, while 44% of fipronil samples surpassed this limit.

filed under Water

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Think Whole Farm Conference

March 5, 2020 @ 8:00 am - March 6, 2020 @ 5:00 pm, Brandon, MB

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Think Whole Farm Conference

March 5, 2020 @ 8:00 am - March 6, 2020 @ 5:00 pm

Keystone Center,

Brandon, MB

Thursday, September 12, 2019

A new way to assess the danger that pesticides can pose to bees

bees are literally risking their lives by excavating their nests in agricultural soil

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A new way to assess the danger that pesticides can pose to bees

 (by Matt Kelly, The Bee Report,September 5, 2019)

“Our study shows that ground nesting bees are literally risking their lives by excavating their nests in agricultural soil because of the high concentrations of neonicotinoids there,” said Chan...The obvious next step with this new knowledge would be to evaluate any insecticide that is applied to soil for its toxicity on bees that make their homes there. Chan and her colleagues are also in the final stages of completing research into the sublethal effects of contact with pesticides through the soil '   

'“The results were sobering,” said Susan Chan, Ph.D. student and lead author, by email. Under many of the scenarios they evaluated, the team found that a hoary squash bee will be exposed to a killing dose of neonicotinoids 80 percent of the time.'

filed under Wildlife/ Insects

 (by Matt Kelly, The Bee Report,September 5, 2019)

“Our study shows that ground nesting bees are literally risking their lives by excavating their nests in agricultural soil because of the high concentrations of neonicotinoids there,” said Chan...The obvious next step with this new knowledge would be to evaluate any insecticide that is applied to soil for its toxicity on bees that make their homes there. Chan and her colleagues are also in the final stages of completing research into the sublethal effects of contact with pesticides through the soil '   

'“The results were sobering,” said Susan Chan, Ph.D. student and lead author, by email. Under many of the scenarios they evaluated, the team found that a hoary squash bee will be exposed to a killing dose of neonicotinoids 80 percent of the time.'

filed under Wildlife/ Insects

Friday, September 6, 2019

Montreal wants to ban use of herbicide glyphosate, calling it a public health issue

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Montreal wants to ban use of herbicide glyphosate, calling it a public health issue  'Failing to act would be irresponsible,' says Coun. Laurence Lavigne-Lalonde  (CBC News, Sep 05, 2019)

filed under bylaw/provincial /Quebec

Thursday, September 5, 2019

From the Ground Up – Regenerative Agriculture

A 13 minutes very compelling Australian video illustrating many facets of regererative agriculture including farming. Worth watching.

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'From the Ground Up – Regenerative Agriculture'

A 13 minutes very compelling Australian video illustrating many facets of regererative agriculture including farming. Worth watching.

'Inspired by Charles Massy's best-selling book "Call of the Reed Warbler", filmmaker Amy Browne set out across the dry farming country of South East NSW to meet Massy and the other trailblazing farmers bringing new life to their land.'

filed under organics

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

Neonicotinoid Insecticides: Environmental Occurrence in Soil, Water and Atmospheric Particles

Chapter 2 of Pesticides book, Avid Science.

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Neonicotinoid Insecticides: Environmental Occurrence in Soil, Water and Atmospheric Particles
(Chapter 2 of Pesticides book, Avid Science. Renata Raina-Fulton, July 30, 2016) 
'they can partition into the particle phase in the atmosphere or be lost during or subsequent to seeding from soil dust created from planters. Presence of neonicotinoid containing particles in the atmosphere is of concern for direct exposure to bees as well as movement
in the environment such as subsequent deposition into surface waters. Concentrations of neonicotinoids in water, soil and atmospheric particles will be discussed'

filed under neonicotinoids 

Monday, September 2, 2019

Brain Function Damage from Exposure to Organophosphate Pesticides, including Chlorpyrifos, Documented with Imaging

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Brain Function Damage from Exposure to Organophosphate Pesticides, including Chlorpyrifos, Documented with Imaging  (Beyond Pesticides, August 30, 2019)

'The subject adolescents — estimated to have relatively high levels of prenatal exposure to organophosphates — showed aberrant brain activity in executive function, attention, social cognition, and language comprehension, compared to their peers.'

'Associate adjunct professor of epidemiology at UC Berkeley and lead author of the new study, Sharon Sagiv, PhD, said, “These results are compelling, because they support what we have seen with our neuropsychological testing, which is that organophosphates impact the brain.”'

filed under nervous system effects and chlorpyrifos

Monday, September 2, 2019

The Puppetmasters of Academia

(or What the NY Times Left out)

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The Puppetmasters of Academia (or What the NY Times Left out)  (Biotechnology, Commentaries, Science Media, 8 September 2015)

Worth a read. industry shenanigans to the nth power. Naming names.

'Others Professors cc’d into the emails released by the NYTimes include : Peter Phillips (University of Saskatchewan),' 'For one thing, the money Folta received is insignificant besides the tens of millions his university was taking from Syngenta (>$10million), Monsanto (>$1million), Pioneer (>$10million), and BASF (>$1million). .. Also missing from the main Times article is a sense of the extensive and intricate networking of a small army of academics furthering the interests of Monsanto and other parts of the chemical, agribusiness and biotech industries. Folta rarely acted alone. His networks are filled with economists, molecular biologists, plant pathologists, development specialists, and agronomists, many of them much more celebrated than Kevin Folta, but all of them in a knowing loop with industry and the PR firms.' and on and on.

filed under industry shenanigans

Friday, August 30, 2019

Surprise: Bees Need Meat

Microbes in flowers are crucial to bee diets, and microbiome changes could be starving the insects

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Surprise: Bees Need Meat

Microbes in flowers are crucial to bee diets, and microbiome changes could be starving the insects  (By Paige Embry, Scientific American, August 23, 2019)

'The mason bee results suggest that bees could suffer or starve if certain microbes disappear from their diet. Scientists have attributed the declines of both managed and wild bees to various combinations of habitat loss and degradation, pests and pathogens, pesticide exposure and climate change. They have largely focused on how such factors impact bees directly. The next step is to look at whether the stressors may affect the pollen-borne microbes.'

“we have ample evidence, at this point, that fungicides dramatically alter the microbial community of fermenting pollen.” And, he adds, “agricultural use of fungicides is very likely a primary stressor—the primary stressor—for bee decline.”

filed under bee die-off and wildlife/insects

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Synthetic Fertilizers Disrupt Carbon-Capturing Ability of Salt Marshes

They encourage organic matter decomposition and, therefore, carbon release versus capture.

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Synthetic Fertilizers Disrupt Carbon-Capturing Ability of Salt Marshes

(Beyond Pesticides, August 28, 2019) 'Salt marshes, areas of coastal grassland regularly flooded by saltwater, provide a major global service by sequestering and storing carbon in the form of organic matter. However, research finds that nitrate from synthetic fertilizers found in agricultural runoff could change the microbial composition of the salt marshes to encourage organic matter decomposition and, therefore, carbon release versus capture. The study, “Nitrate addition stimulates microbial decomposition of organic matter in salt marsh sediments,” was published in Global Change Biology. '   

'According to Project Drawdown, a research organization that analyzes potential solutions to global warming, “While limited in area, coastal wetlands contain large carbon sinks; protecting them would secure an estimated 15 gigatons of carbon, equivalent to over 53 gigatons of carbon dioxide (CO2) if released into the atmosphere.”'

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Unique Hair Testing Project Reveals High Levels of Glyphosate in Members of the Japanese Parliament

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Unique Hair Testing Project Reveals High Levels of Glyphosate in Members of the Japanese Parliament (Sustainable Pulse, Aug 29 2019)

'The Detox Project’s Director, Henry Rowlands, stated Thursday; “This unique testing project was made possible by the development of new hair testing methods that have enabled our long-term exposure to pesticides to be identified for the first time. Urine and blood testing only give us a very short-term picture of exposure, whereas hair testing gives us the real and full picture of what we have been exposed to over the long-term and thus what we need to avoid.”'

'From the 28 hair samples taken 75% of them tested positive for long-term pesticide exposure, with a total of 14 pesticides being detected.'

'The pesticides detected included Cyprodinil, Fipronil Sulfone, Iprovalicarb, Metolachlor, Propiconazole, Pyraclostrobin, Spiroxamine, Tebuconazole, Tetramethrin, Transfluthrin, Trifloxystrobin, Glyphosate, AMPA, Glufosinate.' out of 60 tested for. 

'Four of those pesticides were found in over 10% of the samples; Tebuconazole ( a fungicide) – 10.7%, Transfluthrin (an insecticide) – 14.3 %, Glyphosate (a herbicide) – 32.1%, AMPA (the main metabolite of glyphosate) – 53.6%'

'The results for glyphosate and AMPA included regular levels of over 33 and 166 ppb respectively with the highest results of 791 ppb for glyphosate and 1205 ppb for AMPA.'

''The Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries reported that 90% of U.S. wheat imports and an even higher % of Canadian wheat imports contain glyphosate residues, mainly due to the practice of pre-harvest spraying'

filed under glyphosate and body burdens

Thursday, August 29, 2019

USDA “People’s Garden” Turned Over to Agrichemical Corporations to Promote Pesticides and GE Crops

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USDA “People’s Garden” Turned Over to Agrichemical Corporations to Promote Pesticides and GE Crops

(Beyond Pesticides, August 29, 2019) The Peoples Garden, located on the grounds on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on the national mall, has been renamed and remodeled to highlight genetically engineered (GE) crops and farming techniques that directly counter the organic movement. 

Since 2009, the USDA Peoples Garden has highlighted organic agriculture. It was orihinally envisioned by the Obama administration as a place where visitors could learn about what differentiates organic from conventional chemical-intensive food production, and the practices used in organic land management. 

filed under organics

Thursday, August 29, 2019

EPA Sued for Registering Known Bee-Killing Pesticide for Use on Bee-Attractive Crops

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EPA Sued for Registering Known Bee-Killing Pesticide for Use on Bee-Attractive Crops

(Beyond Pesticides, August 27, 2019) 'The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the subject to a new legal challenge from environmental groups after approving the use an insecticide shown to be highly toxic to bees and other pollinators. The lawsuit, filed in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals by the Center for Biological Diversity and Center for Food Safety, aims to stop the use of sulfoxaflor on more than 200 million acres of crops.'

'The agency regularly permits use on pollinator-attractive crops under the “emergency” exemption loophole in federal pesticide law. Most recently, the agency used this loophole during Pollinator Week 2019, despite a recent report from the Office of Inspector General chastising the agency for its abuse of this provision.'

filed under Legal/Litigation

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Call to Re-think Genetically Engineered Herbicide-Tolerant Crops

Proposed Monsanto corn tolerates four herbicides

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Call to Re-think Genetically Engineered Herbicide-Tolerant Crops
Proposed Monsanto corn tolerates four herbicides

(Prevent Cancer Now, Ottawa, August 22, 2019) Canadian civil society groups Prevent Cancer Now (PCN) and the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN) are calling for a review of the use of genetically engineered (genetically modified or GM) herbicide-tolerant crops in Canada, in response to Monsanto’s request for government approval of a GM corn that can withstand applications of four herbicides, including 2,4-D and dicamba.*

' “GM glyphosate-tolerant crops are no longer working due to the spread of glyphosate resistant weeds, so companies are replacing them with GM crop plants that are tolerant to other herbicides. This is a short-term fix that will likely recreate the problem and further increase herbicide use. A government review of the impacts of using herbicide-tolerant crops is needed.” '

The comments are posted at http://www.preventcancernow.ca/wp-content/uploads/MON-87429-CFIA_comment-PCN-CBAN-Aug2019.pdf

filed under gmos/crops

Friday, August 23, 2019

Glyphosate: Destructor of Human Health and Biodiversity

Another Silent Killer

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Glyphosate: Destructor of Human Health and Biodiversity 

Another Silent Killer (Compiled by Rosemary Mason MB ChB FRCA with information from a global network of independent scientists, toxicologists, beekeepers, environmentalists, Governments, Industry and Regulators) 

Article received by Tony Mitra from Dr. Rosemary Mason of UK. He says: "The article is available on Academia.edu for free for members. I am not a member, but got a free copy from her. I decided to include this 53 page pdf document as a downloadable file for anyone interested on my site.

filed under pesticide fact sheets/glyphosate

Thursday, August 22, 2019

European Regulators Issue Warning on Danger of Chlorpyrifos Prior to Release of Full Review

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European Regulators Issue Warning on Danger of Chlorpyrifos Prior to Release of Full Review

(Beyond Pesticides, August 22, 2019) 'In early August, experts from European Union (EU) member states and staff members of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) announced their conclusion that chlorpyrifos fails to meet criteria for renewed approval for use, potentially moving the EU a step closer to an outright ban.'

'The EU and EFSA experts included in their findings:

  1. a genotoxic potential for chlorpyrifos cannot be ruled out
  2. chlorpyrifos meets the criteria for classification as toxic for reproduction (REPRO 1B, H360D, “May damage the unborn child”), as set out in EU regulation (EC) No 1272/2008)

SNAP Comment: There are still 28 chlorpyrifos products registered in Canada as of 22 August 2019.

filed under fact sheets/chlorpyrifos

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Aminopyralid - new page

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Aminopyralid: We Need  to Stop This (No Dig Home blog, 13 June 2019)

After reading this blog post, I did some research on aminopyralid. 

The most concise and objective article I found was ChemicalWatch Factsheet Aminopyralid (Beyond Pesticides)  which recounts several incidents of manure and hay contamination which led to crop losses. 

The PANNA pesticide data base shows mostly ? for major effects, likely because the chemical has has been registered reasonably recently (2005 in the US, 2006-12 in Canada)   and there have been no independent reviews. Also note that the US registration was conditional which means that all the mandatory tests were not performed. 

A PMRA label search indicates 11 current Canadian labels. (22 August 2019). The product names include Milestone, Restore, Clearview and Reclaim.

The National Library of Medicine HSDB Database (TOXNET) also has a page on Aminopyralid  'Occupational exposure to aminopyralid may occur through inhalation and dermal contact with this compound at workplaces where aminopyralid is produced or used.'

I found very few scientific articles on google but this one was interesting:

 Aminopyralid soil residues affect rotational vegetable crops in Florida 16 March 2011 (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI 10.1002/ps.2119 Spraying with aminopyralid of the bahiagrass used in rotation caused severe damage to following crops.

filed under fact sheets/aminopyralid

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Major food processor wants reduction in pesticide use

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Major food processor wants reduction in pesticide use   (Robert Arnason, Western Producer, 20 August 2019)

“We are working to reduce the need for synthetic pesticides”: General Mills. ...'Last year As You Sow led a shareholder initiative, pressuring General Mills to disclose what it’s doing about pesticides.'

'About 31 percent of shareholders asked the company to share “available quantitative metrics on pesticide use in the Company’s supply chain”, because pesticides were “exposing (General Mills) to brand damage.”'... 'The shareholder resolution focused mostly on the use of neonicotinoids, a class of insecticides that may be a threat to pollinators.'

'The General Mills pesticide reduction strategy, posted on its website, doesn’t specifically mention pre-harvest use of glyphosate' but 'farmers who are part of the company’s sustainability program are not allowed to use pre-harvest glyphosate.'

Thursday, August 15, 2019

California Pesticide Regulators Release Free App to Report Pesticide Incidents

to facilitate the reporting of pesticide incidents in the state

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California Pesticide Regulators Release Free App to Report Pesticide Incidents  (Beyond Pesticides, August 14, 2019) 

'The app, CASPIR (California’s System for Pesticide Incident Reporting), is available for download on the Google Play or Apple iTunes app store and should work with most smart phone devices...CDPR has been increasingly criticized by environmental justice organizations for its response to pesticide incidents, particularly in at-risk and low-income communities, and this app appears to be a response by the agency to address these concerns. The app is bilingual, provides the ability for users to add photos and videos, and records the GPS location of the user.'

 link to Canadian adverse effects reporting system

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Levels and trends of current-use pesticides (CUPs) in the arctic: An updated review, 2010–2018

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Levels and trends of current-use pesticides (CUPs) in the arctic: An updated review, 2010–2018 (Jennifer E.BalmerabAdam et al, Science Direct, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emcon.2019.02.002)

'Since 2010, at least seven new CUPs have been measured in Arctic media: 2-methyl-4- chlorophenoxyacetic acid (MCPA), metribuzin, pendimethalin, phosalone, quizalofop-ethyl, tefluthrin and triallate. Considering the large number of pesticides in current use, the number measured in the Arctic is very limited, however, modelling studies have identified additional CUPs as potential Arctic contaminants that have yet to be investigated in the Arctic. Owing to their recent detection, reports of CUPs in the Arctic are limited, but growing. CUPs have been reported in a wide range of abiotic Arctic matrices, including air, snow, ice, freshwater and seawater, indicating their capacity for long-range atmospheric transport, however, concentrations are generally low in comparison to legacy pesticides and other persistent organic pollutants (POPs)...however, in contrast to POPs, the highest concentrations of many CUPs were found in lower trophic-level organisms'

filed under water

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Chemical-Intensive Agriculture Is Increasingly Toxic to Insects

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Chemical-Intensive Agriculture Is Increasingly Toxic to Insects   (Beyond Pesticides, August 15, 2019) 

An article in the journal Plos One, “An assessment of acute insecticide toxicity loading (AITL) of chemical pesticides used on agricultural land in the United States,” shows that recent shifts in insecticide use—from organophosphates and carbamates to synthetic pyrethroids and neonicotinoids—have made a large contribution to the ongoing insect apocalypse. This shift to insecticides that target insects based on both selective toxicity and delivery method occurs within a context of shrinking habitat and biodiversity...Both studies use the median lethal dose (LD50) to honey bees as a measure of acute toxicity and calculate the potential number of bee deaths based on the number of lethal doses of various insecticides applied in the field. In both cases....The two studies show that acutely toxic doses of insecticides used in agriculture in Great Britain and the U.S. increased by a factor of 3.9 to 48 over the study period. 

filed under wildlife/insects and bee decline

Sunday, August 11, 2019

I’m a journalist. Monsanto built a step-by-step strategy to destroy my reputation

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I’m a journalist. Monsanto built a step-by-step strategy to destroy my reputation  (by Carey Gillam, Opinion in The guardian, 9 August 2019)

But when I recently received close to 50 pages of internal Monsanto communications about the company’s plans to target me and my reputation, I was shocked.  One Monsanto plan involved paying for web placement of a blogpost about me so that Monsanto-written information would pop up at the top of certain internet searches involving my name. The correspondence also discussed a need to produce “third party talking points” about me. In addition, Monsanto produced a video to help it amplify company-engineered propaganda about me and my work.  I even inspired a Monsanto spreadsheet: as part of “Project Spruce”, the “Carey Gillam Book plan” lists more than 20 items, including discussion of how the company might get third parties to post book reviews about Whitewash. On the list: the development of an “issue alert” laying out the “flaws of argument” in the book and a link to the book sales page on Amazon where people presumably could post negative reviews.  The plan called for enlisting “industry & farmer customers” to potentially post reviews using points puts together by Monsanto. FTI’s Cubbage also designated for “immediate action” the “paid placement of existing blog post on Carey Gillam when google search ‘Monsanto Glyphosate Carey Gillam’”... But if a story I wrote quoted a critic of the company or cited scientific research that Monsanto didn’t consider valid, Monsanto would repeatedly complain to editors, tying up editorial time and resources. '


and more more on industry shenanigans main page because it illustrates example of many categories.

Saturday, August 10, 2019

Impossible Burger Causes Some Beef in the Green Market

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Impossible Burger Causes Some Beef in the “Green” Market

(Beyond Pesticides, August 8, 2019)

'The (Impossible) burger, manufactured by the Impossible Foods Group, is comprised of genetically engineered soy and heme (iron-containing molecule that is a component of hemoglobin and common to plants and animals). It contains over 11.3 times the amount of glyphosate residue as its counterpart, the non-GMO Beyond Burger.'
'The results show that the Impossible Burger produces 89% fewer GHG emissions than conventional beef. However, Quantis also conducted an LCA at White Oaks Pasture and found that beef produced in their regenerative agricultural system is carbon negative. Their system produces over 100% less CO2 than both conventional beef or the Impossible Burger: For every 1kg of beef produced at the farm, their overall system, including the soil and their vegetation, removes 3.5 kg of CO2 from the atmosphere....'

filed under  pesticide in food

Saturday, August 10, 2019

The Great American Lawn: How the Dream was Manufactured

video

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The Great American Lawn: How the Dream was Manufactured. (New York Times) 7:10 minutes video

filed under Lawn/turf 

Saturday, August 10, 2019

Insect Honeydew Secretions, Contaminated with Neonicotinoid Insecticides then Eaten by Other Insects, and Birds Contribute to an Expansive Threat

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Insect “Honeydew” Secretions, Contaminated with Neonicotinoid Insecticides then Eaten by Other Insects, and Birds Contribute to an Expansive Threat  (Beyond Pesticides, August 9, 2019)

'Pollinators such as honey bees, solitary bees, bumblebees, and even birds have been observed feeding on honeydew.'

'Results were bad news for beneficial hoverflies and parasitic wasps. Every hoverfly that ate honeydew from the thiamethoxam-sprayed trees died within three days of exposure, compared to 10% of the control group. Of the hoverflies that consumed honeydew from the trees soil-treated with thiamethoxam, nearly 70% died, compared with 14% for the controls. Results for the parasitic wasps were marginally better: more than 50% died after consuming honeydew from both soil- and foliar-treated trees, compared with less than 20% mortality among controls. The honeydew itself was also evaluated: samples from trees treated with thiamethoxam were highly toxic to both species of beneficial insects, and honeydew from those treated with imidacloprid was moderately toxic to hoverflies.'

filed under wildlife  and neonicotinoids 

Thursday, August 8, 2019

Updates of provincial and municipal pesticide bylaws in Canada

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Summary of Pesticide Regulations across Canada (Federal, Provincial and Municipal): Urban Landscapes FINAL DRAFT (British Columbia Landscape & Nursery Association. 2019) includes list of products banned and Municipalities with Pesticide Bylaws in Canada  Population Statistics by Municipality (June 2016 update) is no longeravailable. The lack of adequate protection from unwanted exposure to lawn pesticides at the federal and provincial level has fueled a growing surge in municipal pesticide ordinances designed to enhance the protection of public health and the environment.

Cosmetic Pesticides – Provincial Policies & Municipal Bylaws: Lessons Learned & Best Practices  (Canadian  Association of Physicians for the Environment, 2016) As of June 2016 the aggregate number of municipal by-laws in Canada totaled over 200.

more on bylaws

Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Insect apocalypse in U.S. driven by 50x increase in toxic pesticides

Bees, butterflies, and other insects are under attack by the very plants they feed on as U.S. agriculture continues to use chemicals known to kill.

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Insect 'apocalypse' in U.S. driven by 50x increase in toxic pesticides

Bees, butterflies, and other insects are under attack by the very plants they feed on as U.S. agriculture continues to use chemicals known to kill. (Stephen Leahy, National Geographic,
 August 6, 2019) 

'Using a new tool that measures toxicity to honey bees, the length of time a pesticide remains toxic, and the amount used in a year, Klein and researchers from three other institutions determined that the new generation of pesticides has made agriculture far more toxic to insects. Honey bees are used as a proxy for all insects...The study found that neonics accounted for 92 percent of this increased toxicity. Neonics are not only incredibly toxic to honeybees, they can remain toxic for more than 1,000 days in the environment, said Klein...This is the first study to quantify how toxic agricultural lands have become for insects and it shows toxicity levels rapidly increased when treating seeds with neonics really took off, said Klein. “This is also when beekeepers began to see declines in bee numbers,” she says.'

filed under bee die-off

Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Kids Carry Higher Levels of Glyphosate in Their Bodies than Adults, Study Finds

up to 4 times the level of their parents

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Kids Carry Higher Levels of Glyphosate in Their Bodies than Adults, Study Finds

(Beyond Pesticides, August 7, 2019) significantly higher. '...recent data from the American Cancer Society (ACS) indicat)es) that pediatric cancer in the U.S. surged by almost 50% from 1975 to 2015... Results showed that over 90% of participants had been recently exposed to glyphosate. In most child/parent pairs, the child’s body had surprisingly higher concentrations of glyphosate (up to 4 times that of the parent), supporting research that glyphosate poses a greater threat to children... While American Cancer society (ACS) is for the most part silent on the impact of pesticides on childhood cancer, the Canadian Cancer Society recognizes these risks.

Links to study and more. 

filed under cancer/Links between individual pesticides..., body burden, and children

Wednesday, August 7, 2019

EU experts agree pesticide may damage unborn children

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EU experts agree pesticide may damage unborn children (Staffan Dahllof, EUObserver, 5. Aug 2019)   

'There are no safe levels for exposure to the pesticides chlorpyrifos and chlorpyrifos-methyl, dubbed 'the most dangerous you've never heard of', EU experts have said in an unprecedented preliminary-finding into the pesticide - suggesting an EU-wide ban is a step closer.'

Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Canadian Cancer Society on cancer

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While the American Cancer society (ACS) is for the most part silent on the impact of pesticides on childhood cancer, the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) recognizes these risks. (links)

Not new but added because it is important.

However, recent enquiries to the CCs in Regina indicates that there is no longer any staff or money allocated for pesticide work. (July 2019)

filed under cancer

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Brazil Approves 262 New Hazardous Pesticides, Makes Death Sole Criteria for Toxicity

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Brazil Approves 262 New Hazardous Pesticides, Makes Death Sole Criteria for Toxicity

(Beyond Pesticides, August 1, 2019) Last month, the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture approved the registration of 51 additional hazardous pesticides and brought the total to  262 newly approved pesticides this year.

filed under Legislation/Regulatory/ International 

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

An Apple a Day? To Keep a Healthy Gut, Make Sure It’s Organic

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An Apple a Day? To Keep a Healthy Gut, Make Sure It’s Organic

(Beyond Pesticides, July 31, 2019) When it comes to maintaining a healthy gut, organic apples shine, while conventional, pesticide-treated apples come out bruised and wanting, according to a new study published in Frontiers in Microbiology by a team of Austrian researchers... “Freshly harvested, organically managed apples harbor a significantly more diverse, more even and distinct bacterial community, compared to conventional ones,” said Gabriele Berg, PhD to the Guardian. Scientists reached this conclusion by analyzing the entire apple microbiome, from the peel and fruit pulp, to the seeds, stem and calyx (opposite from the stem, where the apple flower fell off)...Conventional apples, while containing the same number of bacterium, were dominated by Burkholderiales, of which some may be pathogenic to humans. They also contained Enterobacteriales, including some, (albeit low) amount of human pathogenic Escherichia-Shigella, which was not found in any organic apple sample.'

more on pesticides and food

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Dismissing independent Peer-Reviewed Science, EPA Allows Dramatic Increase in Children’s Exposure to Toxic Pesticides Pushed by Industry

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Dismissing independent Peer-Reviewed Science, EPA Allows Dramatic Increase in Children’s Exposure to Toxic Pesticides Pushed by Industry

(Beyond Pesticides, August 6, 2019) In a move that challenges the preponderance of independent peer-reviewed scientific findings on children’s health, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently stripped away protections that limit children’s exposure to class of chemicals associated with childhood cancer, autism, and other learning disorders...EPA looked at hundreds of peer-reviewed studies, but only incorporated two into its determination. The vast majority of studies reviewed by EPA were considered low quality by the agency’s subjective criteria, and effectively ignored. Instead, the agency prioritized methodology put forth by CAPHRA and encouraged by Croplife. Under the CAPHRA model, pyrethroids were estimated to be metabolized by children at the same rate as adults',

SNAP Comment: The last statement defies science and evidence. 

filed under Legislation/Regulatory/USA

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

new page added on International Legislation/Regulation

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Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Tyrone Hayes 2018 video talks on atrazine

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Tyrone has done many presentations on his research on atrazine. The latest is: Endocrine disruption, environmental justice, and the ivory tower | Tyrone Hayes | TEDxBerkeley (March 8, 2018)

Tyrone also gave many talks at Beyond Pesticides conferences such as 14 Keynote: Tyrone Hayes, PhD: Protecting Life, From Frogs to the Human Family (March 2018)

Saturday, August 3, 2019

Old pesticide pollutants are melting out of glaciers

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Old pesticide pollutants are melting out of glaciers

(Mihai Andrei, www.zmescience.com, August 1ST, 2019)

'According to a new study, harmful chemicals used in pesticides have been accumulating in the ice sheets and glaciers since the 1940s. Now, those chemicals are being released into the environment as the climate continues to heat up.

Pollutants can travel long distances and accumulate even in the most pristine environments. Previous studies have shown that they can travel for thousands of kilometers before being incorporated into Arctic or Antarctic ice (or glaciers) — where they remain trapped.'

filed under water/glaciers

Saturday, August 3, 2019

Quebec Ombudsman Slams Agriculture Ministry for firing Pesticide whistleblower

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Quebec's ombudsman slams Agriculture Ministry for firing pesticide whistleblower

Louis Robert, who warned of private-sector meddling in study, offered his job back after ombudsman's report   (Benjamin Shingler · CBC News, Jun 13, 2019)

'But Radio-Canada later obtained the dismissal letter, which indicated Robert was let go for demonstrating a lack of loyalty by leaking documents to the media.'

filed under industry shenanigans/ Interference with Research...

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Unmonitored: pesticide residues in water

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Unmonitored: pesticide residues in water   (By Robert Arnason, Western Producer,  February 23, 2017)

'“There are no surface waters in Western Canada that don’t have pesticides in them,” said Allan Cessna, a semi-retired Environment Canada scientist who specializes in agricultural pesticides and their fate in the environment...However, Environment Canada doesn’t have a consistent program to monitor prairie surface waters for ag chemicals...A national monitoring program could be helpful for the environment and might enhance public confidence in farming.

filed under pesticides in water/ Canada

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Glyphosate-based herbicide exposure during pregnancy and lactation malprograms the male reproductive morphofunction in F1 offspring

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Glyphosate-based herbicide exposure during pregnancy and lactation malprograms the male reproductive morphofunction in F1 offspring

(Jakeline Liara Teleken et al, Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 July 2019)   'data indicate that maternal exposure to glyphosate-ROUNDUP® during pregnancy and lactation may lead to decreased spermatogenesis and disruptions in hypothalamus–pituitary–testicular axis regulation in F1 offspring.'

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

new page added on fluonoxonil

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new page added on fluonoxonil

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Same Pesticides that Are Killing Bees Killed Off Dozens of Goldfinches in Modesto, CA, Study Finds

about the neonicotinoid imidacloprid

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Same Pesticides that Are Killing Bees Killed Off Dozens of Goldfinches in Modesto, CA, Study Finds  (Beyond Pesticides, July 17, 2019) 

'A March 2017 bird kill incident in Modesto, CA can be traced directly back to an insecticide “soil drench” applied to the base of several elm trees by pesticide applicators hired by the city... Researchers autopsied the birds, finding elm seeds and detectable levels of imidacloprid in the gizzard contents (between 2.2-8.5 ppm) and liver tissue (between 2.1-4.8 ppm) of the affected goldfinches, consistent with the presence of imidacloprid on elm seeds found around soil drenched trees....The City of Modesto indicates that applicators followed the label correctly. Consequently, this incident points to a serious, but not unexpected, shortfall in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regulation of toxic pesticides.

filed under wildlife/birds and imidacloprid

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Triclosan Exposure Linked to Osteoporosis among U.S. Women

A disturbing association between urinary triclosan concentrations and osteoporosis has been identified in an epidemiological study.

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Triclosan Exposure Linked to Osteoporosis among U.S. Women

(Beyond Pesticides, July 3, 2019) A disturbing association between urinary triclosan concentrations and osteoporosis has been identified in an epidemiological study. 

The study adds weight to previous laboratory results, which showed that endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as triclosan can interfere with bone metabolism. Triclosan and its byproducts are known endocrine disruptors and have been shown in laboratory studies to interfere with collagen and bone structure. Taken together with previous findings, the new epidemiological results demonstrate that the ubiquitous endocrine disruptor triclosan “could lead to lower BMD benchmark dose and increased prevalence of osteoporosis in U.S. adult women.”

filed under the new page Health/osteoporosis and antibacterials

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Pregnant Mothers Exposed to Insecticides More Likely to Have Children Who Develop ADHD

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Pregnant Mothers Exposed to Insecticides More Likely to Have Children Who Develop ADHD

(Beyond Pesticides, July 11, 2019) '

The pesticides investigated by researchers were breakdown products of the organophosphate chlorpyrifos, and the synthetic pyrethroid class of insecticides. The residue of these chemicals are frequently detected on conventional, industrially farmed food products. Although chlorpyrifos is banned from residential use in the U.S., most household bug sprays such as RAID contain high amounts of synthetic pyrethroids.

Among the 948 pregnant Danish women tested, 90% had some level of chlorpyrifos metabolites (3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol) detected in their urine, and 94% were positive for the generic pyrethroid metabolite (3-phenoxybenzoic acid). Concentrations of both chlorpyrifos and pyrethroid breakdown products in maternal urine samples above the median detection rate for the study corresponded with a 98% increase in odds of their children having ADHD scores in the 90th percentile, a strong predictor for an ADHD diagnosis.

filed under nervous system effects/ADHD

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Dicamba Herbicide Poses Greater Threat of Drift when Mixed with Glyphosate

Adding glyphosate to the mixture produced stark results, increasing concentrations of dicamba in the air up to nine times compared to dicamba alone

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Dicamba Herbicide Poses Greater Threat of Drift when Mixed with Glyphosate

(Beyond Pesticides, July 18, 2019) 'During a 60-hour window, scientists applied various GE dicamba products (Clarity and XtendiMax) over a range of temperatures and took air samples. As temperatures increased, so did the volatilization and drift of dicamba, even in formulations touted as “low volatility.”'

'Adding glyphosate to the mixture produced stark results, increasing concentrations of dicamba in the air up to nine times compared to dicamba alone... and research finds that even trace amounts of dicamba in the air, levels in the parts per million, can damage non-resistant crops.'

SNAP Comment: This research illustrates another failures of the US and Canadian regulatory system. This interaction was totally missed by only requiring testing these pesticides separately even though they are used in formulation.

filed under fact sheets/dicamba and pesticide drift

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Widely Used Fungicide Found to Adversely Affect Enzyme Common to All Cells

about the ability of [the fungicide] fludioxonil to act on a sugar-metabolizing enzyme common to all cells

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Widely Used Fungicide Found to Adversely Affect Enzyme Common to All Cells

(Beyond Pesticides, July 5, 2019) 'This is a story about a chemical pesticide, a fungicide, in wide use for which the mode of action, i.e., the ability to cause harm, has not been fully understood. It is not a story unique to this pesticide... The ability of the fungicide fludioxonil to act on a sugar-metabolizing enzyme common to all cells, and to produce the damaging compound methylglyoxal, may mean that the pesticide has more potential to harm non-fungal cells than previously thought.'

'Fludioxonil, a phenylpyrrole fungicide, which was developed to treat seeds during storage. However, it has come to be used commonly on grains, vegetables, fruits, and ornamental plants during cultivation, and worse (more on this below), to treat produce after it has been harvested to extend “shelf life.” Though fludioxonil is effective in killing fungi, the mode, or mechanism, of action for this pesticide was previously not well understood. 

'Dr. Brandhorst notes, “The take home lesson is that fludioxonil is multifactorial. It’s not compromising cells by one solitary mechanism. It has potential to damage cells in a variety of ways.”'

  • Fludioxonil persists in soil — near the surface for weeks, and for years if it ends up deeper in the soil, 
  • it is also a “super toxin” for earthworms.
  • The fungicide’s extensive post-harvest use on food crops is of particular concern because it eliminates break down mechanisms 
  • the waxy fungicide is not easily removed by rinsing.
  • Further, UV-vis treatment of produce (which is sometimes done to reduce pathogens on fresh fruits and vegetables) actually significantly increases the toxicity of fludioxonil.
  •  is an EPA Category I toxin — “highly toxic and severely irritating” — to aquatic plants, bacteria, insects, fish, and aquatic invertebrates
  • “there is also reason to believe that breakdown products of this pesticide may be 100 times more toxic than fludioxonil itself.”
  • Synergistic potential. 'A 2012 study by French researchers found that a mixture of fludioxonil and cyprodinil, another fungicide, yielded data suggesting cytotoxic (lethal to cells) and genotoxic (damaging to DNA)' 

Neither the US EPA or the PMRA comprehensively evaluates pesticides for synergistic effects, I'n 2016, the Center for Biological Diversity wrote an extensive report on this issue: Toxic Concoctions: How the EPA Ignores the Dangers of Pesticide Cocktails.' 

SNAP Comment: There are currently 39 fludioxonil products registered in Canada. Several are in combination with other pesticides. In addition ot seed and potato seed treatment, some formulations are used on leafy vegetables like spinach, fruit and vine climbing crops and turf in golf courses. I did not do an exhaustive search.

filed under fact sheets/fludioxonil 

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Court Upholds Right of Local Maryland County to Restrict Pesticides, Rejects Pesticide and Lawn Care Industry Stomping on Local Rights

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Court Upholds Right of Local Maryland County to Restrict Pesticides, Rejects Pesticide and Lawn Care Industry Stomping on Local Rights

(Beyond Pesticides, July 15, 2019)  'On Friday, Maryland’s highest court upheld the right of local governments to restrict the use of toxic lawn care pesticides more stringently than the state. '

filed under pesticide bylaws USA

Saturday, July 20, 2019

That Perfect Green Lawn Could Be Deadly For Your Dog

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That Perfect Green Lawn Could Be Deadly For Your Dog (Christina M. russo. The Dodo. 05/01/2015

not exactly newly published but has links to all studies and includes some I was not aware of before. 

filed under pets

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Pesticide-Intensive Agriculture Contributes to Severe Monarch Butterfly Decline through Milkweed Contamination

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Pesticide-Intensive Agriculture Contributes to Severe Monarch Butterfly Decline through Milkweed Contamination

(Beyond Pesticides, June 8, 2019)  'In Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, the researchers report finding evidence of 14 different agricultural pesticides on milkweed near Indiana farm fields, including neonicotinoids clothinidin and thiamethoxam, the pyrethroid deltamethrin, and imidacloprid in a few samples...Perhaps a chief reason for the decline is loss of habitat and food sources due to the rapid and rabid adoption, in agriculture, of glyphosate;'

giled under pesticides and wildlife/insects

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Machine controls weeds with steam

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Machine controls weeds with steam (By Robin Booker, Western Producer, July 4, 2019)

“The X-Steam-inator is 100 percent steam, there is no chemical whatsoever in it,” said Ron Gleim, founder of X-Steam-inator.'

filed under alternatives/weeds

Friday, July 12, 2019

New evidence of pesticides in Calgary air, soil

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New evidence of pesticides in Calgary air, soil  (Bridget Brown, CTV Calgary,  June 10, 2015) 

'An environmental testing facility has found pesticides that are expected to dissipate in a matter of days persisting in Calgary’s soil and air for months after lawn and garden season has ended.'

'“2,4 D is supposed to have a half-life in the order of two weeks,” he says, “and the last application of 2,4D would be the previous fall. and yet in April, we find it.”'  The team also found  atrazine and Dicamba. 'The amount of Dicamba exceeded provincially regulated safe levels.' 

SNAP COMMENT: I hope the lab is still in business and the scientist still employed

filed under pesticide drift/research and soils


 

Monday, July 8, 2019

Don Huber - Glyphosate - Dangers and Soil Remediation

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Don Huber - Glyphosate - Dangers and Soil Remediation (Global Earth Repair conference, May 9, 2019)

Don Huber goes through all the dangers of this defoliant and toxin, why it is so deadly, and how to remove it from bodies and from soil Thank you for your work, Don!!   Over 1 hour video well worth watching. As usual, Huber presents  lots of studies in many fields. Widespread use and history of use, as well EPA 'acceptable levels' in foods being much higher than the levels observed to cause health issue in the lab and in real life. Interesting that when glyphosate replaces glycine in proteins, it causes proteins to fold wrong and adopt a shape characteristic of prion diseases like mad cow disease. Glyphosate is antibiotic against the good bacteria but, unfortunately, the bad ones (Salamonella.E coli, Clostridium, etc) are resistant. Also presents studies indicating that supplementing bees in areas of severe bee hive loss with water containing minerals and some probiotics can reduce the hive loss from 40%/year to .05%. Part of the solution for livestock diseases is to buy clean feed and supplement minerals. Lots of data from many sources build the case against glyphosate.

filed uder glyphosate. So many negative effects from manydiseases in humans to soils and animals/environment that I could put in on many pages.Instead I have a link back to the glyphosate page.

Wednesday, July 3, 2019

The Indian state where farmers sow the seeds of death

Cancer rates are the highest in the country, drug addiction is rife, and 900 farmers have killed themselves in two years. How did Punjab turn toxic?

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The Indian state where farmers sow the seeds of death (The Guardian, 1 July 2019)

Cancer rates are the highest in the country, drug addiction is rife, and 900 farmers have killed themselves in two years. How did Punjab turn toxic?

A movie about the issue. 'Rayatt, a British-born film-maker of Punjabi origin, said: “The farmers are poisoning their bodies and their land. Our film makes a direct connection between the overuse of chemicals, which has damaged agriculture and pushed many farmers into debt, and drug addiction. Not only is farming becoming poisoned in Punjab, so is society.”

The film traces the roots of Punjab’s demise to the state’s green revolution of the 1970s, when new farming practices were introduced to increase production and profits. This involved the sustained use of chemical pesticides, insecticides and fertilisers, which has continued unchecked and without adequate guidance from experts.' 
'Punjab utilises the highest amount of chemical fertilisers in India. Many of the pesticides sprayed on the state’s crops are classified as class I by the World Health Organization because of their acute toxicity and are banned in places around the world, including Europe....Earlier this year, Punjab’s state government banned 20 pesticides deemed harmful to human health but did not provide details on how the edict would be enforced. The substances remain available across the rest of India.'

filed under pesticide poisoning 

Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Cockroaches Rapidly Develop Resistance to Nearly Every Pesticide, Requiring Alternative Approach

integrated measures that focus on structural, mechanical, and cultural pest management practices must become standard practice

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Cockroaches Rapidly Develop Resistance to Nearly Every Pesticide, Requiring Alternative Approach   (Beyond Pesticides, July 2, 2019)

'Rotating the insecticides used each month resulted in cockroach populations that were relatively stable or increased, while the treatment with a mixture of pesticides resulted in a population explosion. And researchers found that for cockroaches that survived after an application of one chemical didn’t develop resistance merely to that one chemical or even class of chemicals, they also developed resistance to pesticides in other chemical classes. This occurred even if they had never been exposed to these new pesticides in their life.' 

' In the face of pesticide resistance, integrated measures that focus on structural, mechanical, and cultural pest management practices must become standard practice for this notorious pest.'   article also explains the appropriate approach, and links to alternatives.

SNAP Comment: The only astounding thing about this research is that it took so long to be done! Surely, the fact that monthly spraying were needed for the last 60 years at least should have been a hint! especially when studies  have shown for at least 10 years that properly defined and used 'integrated pest management' worked!

filed under resistance

Tuesday, July 2, 2019

California scientists consider case of poisoned songbirds

about the neonicotinoid imidacloprid

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California scientists consider case of poisoned songbirds  (Brooks Hays, UPI, Science News, June 27, 2019)

The neonicotinoid imidacloprid was used as a drench according to label.

filed under wildlife/birds 

Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Failure of EPA and PMRA to act on endocrine disruptors which threaten public health

and similar faults in Canadian regulatory approach

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EPA's failure to act on endocrine disruptors which threaten public health

'Despite operating for 21 years, the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP) has made little progress in reviewing and regulating endocrine-disrupting pesticides. As of 2019, the program has stalled entirely.'

Canada: As of July 2017, andin spite of international commitment, we were not doing much either. 

Scientific Justification to Address Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs): A Roadmap for Action A Submission to the 2016-2017 Parliamentary Review of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) (by Canadian Ennvironmental Law Asssociation and other groups,31 July 2017)  'A number of limitations within the risk based approach for chemicals assessment and management that are applied by many countries including Canada that prevent an effective approach to identify, assess and manage many chemicals, particularly EDCs... Regulatory regimes for chemicals under CEPA and for pesticides under the Pest Control Products Act (PCPA) rely on traditional toxicological testing, assessment and risk management. This framework is not amenable to reliably detect and respond to scientific evidence related to the long-term health effects of exposures to EDCs. Special techniques and decision-making framework are needed for EDCs...Chemical assessment assumes that observations of “no adverse effect” when a chemical is tested at levels above environmental levels (possibly 100 to 3000-fold or higher concentrations) means that the chemical is “safe” at lower concentrations. Thus, environmentally relevant testing may not occur, despite knowledge that EDCs can cause effects at low doses or concentrations, that do not manifest at higher levels.' also read the quotes under Canada’s commitment on EDCs under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 and the answer 'Canada’s position that endocrine disruptors may induce effects that are not necessarily adverse is problematic, as early life exposure to endocrine disruptors may have delayed adverse effects that are not necessarily endpoints in traditional toxicological testing'

Technical approach for "rapid screening" of substances of lower ecological concern, Appendix B   (Date modified: 2017-04-19)

ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS UPDATE, (Prepared by:Christine Labelle, Science and Technology Division, 10 August 2000) very old! summary mention of organicllorines and pesticides.

filed under endocrine disruption/regulatory and legistative/regulatoryCanada

Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Banned pesticide implicated in 2016 bald eagle poisoning

about carbofuran

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Banned pesticide implicated in 2016 bald eagle poisoning

(Dorchester Banner, Jun 29th, 2019)   This US story illustrates a major problem with pesticide regulation. Carbofuran (trade name Furedan) has also been banned in Canada for a while. Unfortunately, in Canada, when a product is federally banned, it is only from sale, not use. Products can be banned from use by provinces, and/or municipalities when there are no pre-emption laws. In fact, pesticide companies usually have sales of the pesticide before the last legal sale date or donate products to groups. A New York area activist mentioned that, after chlorpyrifos was banned in schools, stocks were donated or sold to those looking after school grounds. (Organizing for Local Policy Changes, Beyond Pesticides conference 2019) Somewhat defeating the purpose to protect children, isn't it?

filed uner wildlife/birds and legislation/regulatory

Monday, July 1, 2019

Study finds residue of pesticides, antibiotics and growth hormone in non-organic milk

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Study finds residue of pesticides, antibiotics and growth hormone in non-organic milk

(Rebekah Tuchscherer, USA TODAY, June 26, 2019)

'Jessica Shade, director of science programs for The Organic Center said, "This study finds that the presence of antibiotics and pesticides in conventional milk is much more prevalent and pervasive than previously thought."' Hormones are the same but much higher levels in conventional milk. The article discusses the results compared to the previous FDA studies. 
filed under pesticides in foods

Saturday, June 29, 2019

The Same Pesticides Linked to Bee Declines Might Also Threaten Birds

Neonicotinoids are washing off of their host seeds and into water bodies—threatening not just aquatic insects but the birds that rely on them.

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The Same Pesticides Linked to Bee Declines Might Also Threaten Birds

Neonicotinoids are washing off of their host seeds and into water bodies—threatening not just aquatic insects but the birds that rely on them.

About U. of S Christy Morrissey, a wildlife ecotoxicologist  and her work on neonicotinoids' effects on aquatic organisms and birds.

filed under wildlife/birds

Saturday, June 29, 2019

I Was Lured Into Monsanto GMO Crusade. Here’s What I Learned

Public debates about science and technology are rarely ever just about the science and technology.

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I Was Lured Into Monsanto’s GMO Crusade. Here’s What I Learned.

(Kavin Senapathy, UNDark 27 June 2019)  
Interesting article from a pro-GMO promoter who disagrees with Monsanto. I certainly don't agree with her view that opposition to GMOs is unscientific and baseless but I agree with her analysis of Monsanto and her conclusion that people have a ' legitimate desire for trustworthy behavior from the companies that dominate the agricultural marketplace.' 'Monsanto hired Crowe, a communications strategist, as their director of millennial engagement. As journalist Jessie Scott put it in a 2017 profile for Successful Farming, Crowe’s overarching goal was “to engage with millennials about the intersection of farming, food, and technology,” and push back against activists who “spread fear of modern agriculture.” ...Crowe preached a scientific gospel of GMOs that went something like this: If you’re pro-science, you must be pro-GMO. If you’re anti-Monsanto, then you’re anti-GMO. Therefore, if you’re anti-Monsanto, you’re anti-science. His objective, it seemed, was to render opposition to GMOs as ridiculous as belief in Bigfoot, and to amass a movement that could be counted on to shout that message from the rooftops.' 'But people, this millennial included, don’t necessarily want the world to look the way that Monsanto wants it to look. What was missing from Crowe’s battle for the hearts and minds of millennials were answers to big picture problems — about the health of our families, the environment, the food system, and the injustices that pervade all of these facets of life — that people on both sides of the GMO debate care about.'

filed in industry shenanigans/ media manipulation

Friday, June 28, 2019

New SNAP page on Human rights

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Friday, June 28, 2019

Swiss Government Challenged by United Nations for Human Rights Violations Associated with Pesticide Use and Actions of Pesticide Companies

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Swiss Government Challenged by United Nations for Human Rights Violations Associated with Pesticide Use and Actions of Pesticide Companies   (Beyond Pesticides, June 28, 2019)

'...the UN Special Rapporteur on Toxics, Baskut Tuncak, has now said publicly that pesticide companies’ behavior is “seriously deficient” regarding human rights (especially those of children), and that the Swiss government should act more aggressively to phase out use of these hazardous chemicals.'  

'Recently, the pesticide conversation has ratcheted up several notches... globally, due to greater public awareness of the health and environmental threats of pesticide use, more and more research underscoring those threats, and pointedly, the cascade of litigation against Monsanto (now owned by Bayer) for harm to individuals who have used its glyphosate-based products. Public awareness in Switzerland is also mounting in response to global developments, to recent discoveries that small streams in Swiss agricultural areas are heavily polluted with pesticides, and to broadening recognition that pesticides are linked to a plethora of harms to human health, pollinators, water, farmworkers, wildlife, ecosystems and biodiversity, and more. In 2017, a UN report found that human rights are adversely affected by pesticide use: not only has industrialized agriculture not succeeded in “eliminating world hunger”; it has hurt human and environmental health and well-being.' 

SNAP Comment: Links to all statements. Excellent article. In view of all this, why is it still so hard to go to court about damages from pesticides, especially to health?

filed under Human Rights

Thursday, June 27, 2019

Exposure to pesticides can raise blood pressure in kids

effects of organophosphates

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Exposure to pesticides can raise blood pressure in kids

(Sara Middleton, staff writer, NaturalHealth365, June 26, 2019)
'The innocent children’s exposure to harmful chemicals like organophosphates – which are already linked with hypertension according to the National Institutes of Health – caused them to develop hypertension, especially soon after toxin exposure.

To make matters even worse, the affected kids also demonstrated diminished self-control, attention, visuospatial processing, and sensorimotor function! ' with link to the scientific article about pesticides. The article also discusses natural ways of lowering blood pressure.

filed under pesticides and children and pesticides and cardiovascular health 

Thursday, June 27, 2019

Scientists Say: We know enough to act now on Perilous Global Insect Decline

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Scientists Say, “We know enough to act now,” on Perilous Global Insect Decline  (Beyond Pesticides, June 27, 2017)

'The main culprits of insect demise are habitat loss and degradation, pesticides, and climate change. The authors note that it is less critical, at this juncture, to focus on the complexities of the individual issues than to understand that many factors act as a “firing squad” of stressors. “In many cases it will be difficult to identify the killing shot,” the authors write, “but we know the bullets are flying and we know where they are coming from.”'

includes policy recommendations.

filed under wildlife/insects

Thursday, June 27, 2019

new page on Sulfonylureas herbicides

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I decided to add this page because I learnt some pesticide formulations containing sulfonylureas are still in use, including Clear for the control of Wild Parsnip in Ontario where a recent incident involved the soaking of a farmer sitting on his tractor while trying to get out of his yard. Too many individual herbicides to check for rregistration, I am afraid, but I am providing a list of names.

The fact that they cause total or almost total crop failures in fruit trees and strawberries was on the news in the early 1990s, but now no one talks about it now. It likely still occurs. You should be aware of it and so should anyone using it. 

Thursday, June 27, 2019

Study Finds Synergism between Neonicotinoids and Parasites Leads to 70% Declines in Honey Bee Survival

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Study Finds Synergism between Neonicotinoids and Parasites Leads to 70% Declines in Honey Bee Survival  (Beyond Pesticides, June 24, 2019)

After 42 days of spring exposure to neonicotinoids at environmentally relevant concentration, 'researchers looked for differences in response to neonicotinoid exposure depending on individual bees’ status – whether or not they were harboring mites – which varied naturally among individuals in each colony.' 'By the time autumn collections were completed, combined exposure to neonicotinoids and V. destructor were found to cause an astounding 70% reduction in survival, significantly surpassing the effects of either exposure alone. These results have strong implications for overall colony survival.'

filed under neonicotinoids and Bee Die-Off

Thursday, June 27, 2019

Herbicides can damage crops in many ways. Learn to prevent loss and deal with damages

Discussion and advice on causes of herbicide damage

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Herbicides can damage crops in many ways. Learn to prevent loss and deal with damages (by Leuan Evans, Grainews, 26 March, 2019)

'Every year across the Canadian Prairies there will be many cases of herbicide damage to non-target crops. Some of this will be due to unsuitable weather conditions such as windy weather, wind gusts or inversions. Other causes are municipal roadside weed control leading to spray drift into cropland, on farm herbicide mix-ups, incorrect herbicides... Other causes are improper clean out of sprayer tanks, using the wrong herbicide for the crop, aerial spray drift and, very rarely, a manufacturing mix-up such as an herbicide contamination of a fungicide.' The article gives advice on each cause of herbicide damage and discusses liability and when to go to small claims court.

SNAP Comment: Notice the article only deals with economic loss in terms of crops or easily assessed damage. That is what courts handle. There is very little jurisprudence in Canada of damage to health from pesticides, and very few lawyers that would be ready to accept such a case. 

filed under emergencies

Thursday, June 27, 2019

Colorado Couple Sues Dominican Resort for Pesticide Poisoning

This year, the same resort, the Grand Bajia Principe, has had three Americans die on its premises.

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Colorado Couple Sues Dominican Resort for Pesticide Poisoning   (Beyond Pesticides, June 26, 2019)

 'This year, the same resort, the Grand Bajia Principe, has had three Americans die on its premises. This is not the first time an island resort has been implicated in improper, potentially illegal pesticide use. In 2015, a family of four was poisoned by Terminix after the highly toxic fumigant methyl bromide was applied in a nearby room seeped in while they slept.'

  'Before you stay at a resort, ask questions about their pest management practices, and consider alternative accommodations if you are not satisfied with the response. If you think you’re being poisoned, get to fresh air immediately and contact authorities. See Beyond Pesticides website for what to do in a pesticide emergency.' For Canadian information go to Emergencies

filed under pesticide poisoning/ individual cases

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Unsafe at any Dose? Diagnosing Chemical Safety Failures, from DDT to BPA

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Unsafe at any Dose? Diagnosing Chemical Safety Failures, from DDT to BPA  (by Jonathan Latham, PhD, COMMENTARY, Independent Science News, MAY 16, 2016)

' instead, the case of BPA strongly implies not a series of bad actors but instead a dysfunctional regulatory system... but the basis of risk assessment is always the estimation of exposure and the estimation of harm. 

The article then describes with examples:

  1. problems with estimation of exposure and estimation of harm, including historic errors in estimating real world exposures to toxic substances.
  2. 'regulatory agencies do 'not recognise that exposures to individual chemicals typically come from multiple sources.'
  3. Most of the assumptions required for such extrapolations, however, have never been scientifically validated,... but in other cases they are actively known to be invalid.
  4. Toxicologists necessarily focus on a limited number of specific “endpoints”.'
  5. The assumption of a linear response is rarely tested, yet for numerous toxins (notably endocrine disrupting chemicals) a linear dose-response relationship has been disproven. Such important limitations and assumptions are generally not  noted as caveats to risk assessments.
  6. Researchers conflict of interest
  7. Regulatory agencies structured in a way that favors industry and products by often 'specifically exclud(ing) from regulatory consideration evidence and data not produced by industry.'
  8. safety bar for approval very low and standards for taking any chemical off the market so high that such an event nearly never happen. 'Yet if both standards were based purely on science, as they claim to be, both bars would be the same height.'

The article also suggests how environmental groups have 'an opportunity to substantively rethink their strategies and reframe their activities'

filed under Safety of Pesticides

Monday, June 24, 2019

Effect of Endocrine Disruptor Pesticides: A Review

review paper from 2011

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Effect of Endocrine Disruptor Pesticides: A Review (Wissem Mnif et al,  Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2011 Jun; 8(6): 2265–2303)

'This paper reviews the current knowledge of the potential impacts of endocrine disruptor pesticides on human health.' It also gives a table of the pesticides (including insecticides, fungicides and herbicides) that have endocrine effects and what those effects are.  

SNAP Comment: Since 2011, many more endocrine effects have been observed including effect on fat metabolism (obesogens) andepigenetic transgenerational actions. 

filed under endocrine disruption

Monday, June 24, 2019

Researchers Find that Fipronil Causes Transgenerational Toxic Effects

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Researchers Find that Fipronil Causes Transgenerational Toxic Effects

(Beyond Pesticides, June 12, 2019) A new study finds that the widespread insecticide fipronil causes transgenerational toxicity across generations of zebrafish...Fipronil is a broad-spectrum insecticide widely used for indoor and turf pest control in the U.S., and identified as a ubiquitous contaminant of U.S. surface waters. Fipronil is a known endocrine disruptor and has been shown to disrupt thyroid function in humans and wildlife.

filed under endocrine disruption/transgenerational effects

Thursday, June 13, 2019

As Pesticide Turns Up in More Places, Safety Concerns Mount

A growing body of research is challenging the assumption that neonicotinoids are safer and less likely to spread than other pesticides

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As Pesticide Turns Up in More Places, Safety Concerns Mount

A growing body of research is challenging the assumption that neonicotinoids are safer and less likely to spread than other pesticides

 (By Jim Daley, Scientific American, April 30, 2019)

'Only 2 to 20 percent of the neonicotinoids applied to seeds make it into the plant, says Jonathan Lundgren... “And we’re starting to find (the other 80-98) in other areas of the environment like surface waters and untreated plants.'  Several of the studies referred to in the article are already on SNAP's web site under wildlife but there is mention of others. Neonicotinoids have also been widely found in foods.

"Morrissey says the problem is not as simple as banning one pesticide or another, though. '“The bigger problem is that we’ve become complacent about using pesticides for everything,” she says. Lundgren says 'meaningful change will have to come from grassroots efforts.'

filed under neonicotinoids

Thursday, June 13, 2019

Good news for Canadian bees, other pollinators and gardeners – major garden centres shut down use of neonic pesticides

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Good news for Canadian bees, other pollinators and gardeners – major garden centres shut down use of neonic pesticides   (Friends of the Earth, 12 June, 2019)

'Top place for neonic-free flowering plants goes to two big box chain stores and one regional chain: Home Depot, Lowes (which includes RONA and Reno-Depot Corporate stores across Canada and Sheridan Nurseries in Ontario.  As a close second, Canadian Tire Corporation reported that it has reached 95% neonicotinoid free.

Home Hardware reports 100% neonic-free products from its distribution centres, but Friends of the Earth notes that many Home Hardware stores host local nurseries and it is not clear that their plants are neonic-free.

Both Costco and Walmart report progress in removing neonics on their websites, but are not reporting on Canadian-specific markets.

Loblaw, with the largest number of outlets – some 2500 in Canada – is recycling its 2016 statement saying that since 2014 it has been “developing a plan”.

Empire Company, which owns Sobey, IGA, Safeway and other stores, has not responded to Friends of the Earth.

In Ontario, '...there is no response from Atlantic Canada’s Kent Chain, Quebec’s Botanix Garden Centres or BC’s Art Knapp Plantland. Friends of the Earth hopes they will respond soon.'

SNAP Comment: at least in Ontario. It has happened many times that, as pesticides got banned in Ontario. they were shipped West because we had no pesticide law yet. I hope the same isn't true for bedding plants. However, this is a survey so hopefully the companies answered truthfully. Always ask for neonicotinoid-free plants.

filed under Alternatives to insects and invertebrates

Thursday, June 13, 2019

Austria Moves to Ban Glyphosate This Year

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Austria Moves to Ban Glyphosate This Year ( Organic consumers Association, 12 June, 2019)

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

From Glyphosate to Front Groups: Fraud, Deception and Toxic Tactics

European Chemicals Agency classifies glyphosate as a substance that causes serious eye damage

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From Glyphosate to Front Groups: Fraud, Deception and Toxic Tactics   (Colin Todhunter, OffG. Jun 8, 2019)   Along with her letter, she enclosed a 13-page document. Readers can access the fully referenced document here: European Chemicals Agency classifies glyphosate as a substance that causes serious eye damage (or see the embedded version below).

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Videos of Organic Strategies for Community Environmental Health:

The 37th National Pesticide Forum, April 5-6, 2019

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Organic Strategies for Community Environmental Health:  Eliminating pesticides where we live, work, learn and play

The 37th National Pesticide Forum, April 5-6, 2019

This is  the link to the videos of the event.

Convened by Beyond Pesticides and the Children's Environmental Health Center at Mount Sinai Institute for Exposomic Research at the New York Academy of Medicine in New York, NY

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Childhoods lost: disabilities and seizures blight India s endosulfan victims

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Childhoods lost: disabilities and seizures blight India's endosulfan victims (The Guardian, 15 February 2017)

SNAP Comment: Well, this is not only a Kerala. India problem. where it was aerially sprayed on the cashew crop. 14 Endosulfan formulations were historically registered in Canada and two, THIONEX EC (ENDOSULFAN) COMMERCIAL INSECTICIDE and THIONEX 50W WSP WETTABLE POWDER INSECTICIDE were still legally sold until the end of 2016. This means they may still be in use because the Pesticide Act and regulations control sales, not use. I am sure there have been health effects but, until recently, the PMRA did not collect them or consider them in pesticide registration. The system currently set up only requires manufacturers (not MDs) to disclose pesticide health effects. more on adverse effects reporting and to report a pesticide incident 

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Protecting Children from Pesticides: Information for Parents

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Protecting Children from Pesticides: Information for Parents (healthychildren.org, 29 Ma4ch 2017)

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) policy statement, Pesticide Exposure in Children, and accompanying technical report highlights some of the major health concerns linked to pesticide exposure—particularly prenatal exposure.

filed under children 

Monday, June 10, 2019

Roundup’s Risks Could Go Well Beyond Cancer

Evidence of the cheap herbicide’s danger to biological functions and the environment continues to mount. Why are U.S. regulators not listening?

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Roundup’s Risks Could Go Well Beyond Cancer

Evidence of the cheap herbicide’s danger to biological functions and the environment continues to mount. Why are U.S. regulators not listening?  (By Mark Buchanan, Bloomberg Opinion, June 4, 2019)

'Both the EPA and the EFSA relied on information provided by researchers linked to the industry and considered studies provided by the industry that were not peer-reviewed or made public. The IARC relied solely on publicly available peer-reviewed research.'  ' In both the U.S. and Europe, the supposedly safe limits for human ingestion are based on long-outdated science. Research also points to serious adverse consequences for the environment, and there are indications glyphosate can cause disease in mammals even several generations removed from the initial exposure.'

SNAP comment: The article does not answer its question other than pointing out the narrow scope of studies which regulatory agencies evaluate. I can add the mandatory 'risk-benefit assessment' where use is considered a benefit and need and trumps any negative health and environmental effects. This, in my view, is 'long outdated science', as well as the belief that there is a 'safe' dose at which there is no effect, and the unscientific way this is calculated. 

filed under pesticide fact sheets/glyphosate

Monday, June 10, 2019

Family Farm documentary was part of pesticide

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Family farm documentary was part of pesticide lobby's campaign to change how you think (By Carl Meyer, National Observer, March 27th 2019)

SNAP Comment: In other words, this is an 'infomercial', only giving one side of the story, the one CropLife wants you to hear. 

'The goal of the marketing efforts is to create more "shareworthy content" that would build public support for the use of pesticides and genetically modified organisms, according to the leaked presentation. It is coming to light at a time when the industry is under scrutiny over public health concerns that could prompt governments to impose tougher regulations that cut into profits.'

'The proposal was part of a larger presentation by CropLife Canada, an industry group representing corporations like Bayer, Syngenta, Nufarm, BASF — and Corteva, which tweeted about the Englots using herbicides, a type of pesticide.'

filed under Industry Shenanigans/ propaganda

Monday, June 10, 2019

U.S. federal agency shows that glyphosate causes cancer

Nice comparative charts. Simple, easy to understand comparison of independent glyphosate assessments versus regulatory

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 U.S. federal agency shows that glyphosate causes cancer (Prevent Cancer Now, 9 June 2019)

SNAP comment: Nice comparative charts. Simple, easy to understand comparison of independent glyphosate assessments versus regulatory (PMRA, EPA). When you see the chart, Bayer/Monsanto's argument implying glyphosate's safety because neither the EPA or PMRA has banned it doesn't hold water. It is merely a distraction from the facts. 

'The federal U.S. public health agency that assesses toxic exposures showed scientifically that glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs) such as Roundup cause cancer in humans. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Diseases Registry (ATSDR) did not, however, say that GBHs cause cancer. Independent scientists do say so.

See for yourself, some of the data that scientists and lawyers are using to prove that glyphosate causes cancer, while regulators fail to acknowledge health risks.'

file under health/cancer/links between individual....and Legislation/Regulatory

Saturday, June 8, 2019

The USA lags behind other agricultural nations in banning harmful pesticides

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The USA lags behind other agricultural nations in banning harmful pesticides  (Nathan Donley,  Environmental Health, 7 June 2019) 

'There are 72, 17, and 11 pesticides approved for outdoor agricultural applications in the USA that are banned or in the process of complete phase out in the EU, Brazil, and China, respectively. Of the pesticides used in USA agriculture in 2016, 322 million pounds were of pesticides banned in the EU, 26 million pounds were of pesticides banned in Brazil and 40 million pounds were of pesticides banned in China' 'The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) has all but abandoned its use of non-voluntary cancellations in recent years, making pesticide cancellation in the USA largely an exercise that requires consent by the regulated industry.' 'Unlike the safety threshold afforded by the EU, the (US) pesticide industry only has to demonstrate that its products “will not generally cause unreasonable adverse effects on the environment,” which is partially defined as “any unreasonable risk to man or the environment, taking into account the economic, social, and environmental costs and benefits of the use of any pesticide…The article also discusses the differences in regulatory approach. As the Canadian and US regulatory system are fairy similar, I think the conclusions can be applied to Canada.

SNAP Comment: After reading pages and pages of negative health effects, 2,4-D for lawn use was cleared for use again on the basis of cost-benefit. This section was very short and concluded the pesticide had value, and that trumped the rest of the review.j

Saturday, June 8, 2019

Starbucks Sued for Illegally Using Carcinogenic Pesticide Near Food and Beverages

Hot Shot No Pest Strip placed near bagels and pastries in Starbucks store

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Starbucks Sued for Illegally Using Carcinogenic Pesticide Near Food and Beverages

Hot Shot No Pest Strip placed near bagels and pastries in Starbucks store

(Beyond Pesticides, June 4, 2019) A class-action lawsuit is accusing Starbucks stores in New York of misusing a highly toxic, carcinogenic pesticide near food, putting the health of customers and employees at risk. “Stores throughout Manhattan have for many years been permeated with a toxic pesticide called Dichlorvos DDVP, which is highly poisonous and completely unfit for use in proximity to food, beverages and people,” the suit reads.

SNAP Comment: There are 8 dichlorvos pesticide forrmulations still registered in Canada. They include Vapona. The pesticide is to be used indoors, for fogging Food Processing Plants, Industrial Plants, Theatres, Warehouse and mushroom houses, Also for dairies, piggeries, poultry houses and barns, and for outdoor mosquito control and 'space spray.' Most exterminators in Saskatchewan use pesticides first rather than integrated pest management which should mean starting with the least toxic approach first.

filed under food and Legal/litigation

Saturday, June 8, 2019

Study Documents Playgrounds Contaminated with Pesticides from Neighboring Chemical-Intensive Ag Land

Italian study near orchards and vineyards

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Study Documents Playgrounds Contaminated with Pesticides from Neighboring Chemical-Intensive Ag Land  (Beyond Pesticides, June 7, 2019)

 '45% are contaminated with a single pesticide, and 24% by more than one. Study authors note that the playground contamination will likely grow worse over the course of the growing season.'

'The compounds found across the four study sites were the pesticides phosmetimidacloprid,chlorpyrifos-methylmethoxyfenozide, and cypermethrin; fungicides fluazinamdodinedifenoconazolepenconazoletetraconazole, and penthiopyrad; and the herbicide oxadiazon. Among those, only dodine has no association with endocrine function. Cypermethrin, oxadiazon and tetraconazole are confirmed endocrine disruptors; chlorpyrifos-methyl, fluazinam, penthiopyrad, and methoxyfenozide are suspected endocrine disruptors; and difenoconazole, imidacloprid, penconazole, and phosmet are endocrine-active substacomment: nces, or potential endocrine disruptors. 

SNAP Comment: PMRA registrations as of 7 June 2019: 3 phosmet labels, 96 imidacloprid, 28 chlorpyrifos, 2 methoxyfenozide, and 9 cypermethrin; 4 fluazinam, 3 dodine, 29 difenoconazole, 0 penconazole, 5 tetraconazole, 6 penthiopyrad; and 2 oxadiazon. Seems like we have the same problem here. Many small towns are surrounded by sprayed crops.

Saturday, June 8, 2019

Organic Animal Farms Improve Bird Abundance

Organic livestock farming was the only AES measure that had a significant effect on bird abundance.

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Organic Animal Farms Improve Bird Abundance

(Beyond Pesticides, May 31, 2019) 'Organic livestock farming was the only AES measure that had a significant effect on bird abundance. Insectivorous birds as well as long-distance migrant species had the highest positive relationship to organic animal farms. In the discussion, the authors reason that organic animal farms with nutrient-rich, antibiotic-free manure likely increases insect abundance which in turn supports insectivorous and, to a lesser degree, omnivorous birds. Previous studies show cow presence (and, relatedly, their manure) being positively associated with grubby fodder for birds.'

'Project Drawdown, a nonpartisan non-profit focused on carbon sequestration, states that if managed grazing could be amped up worldwide it could sequester over 16 gigatons of carbon by 2050. ' This research relates to organic meat grown on grass, not in feedlots on organic grain. 

filed under organics/environment

Saturday, June 8, 2019

Pesticide Use Kills Off Mosquito Predators Faster than Target Mosquitoes

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Pesticide Use Kills Off Mosquito Predators Faster than Target Mosquitoes

(Beyond Pesticides, June 6, 2019) 'Pesticide use eliminates pest predators and permits mosquito populations to flourish, according to research conducted in Costa Rica by scientists at Utah State University.'

'Pristine areas had 58% fewer mosquitoes than the chemical-dependent orange groves surveyed. Moreover, chemical-dependent groves have zero damselfly predators within any bromeliad plant sampled; none at all. While organic orange groves have lower levels of damselflies detected than pristine areas, they still contain a viable population of the species.'

'Discussions with conventional farmers in the region reveal that the organophosphate insecticide dimethoate has been used for up to several decades to manage psyllid pests.

To determine whether pesticide resistance is involved, researchers tested and compared mosquitoes from chemical-intensive groves and pristine areas. Mosquitoes within chemical-dependent groves are able to endure significantly higher levels of pesticide exposure, up to ten times (10x) more than mosquitoes find in pristine areas.

filed under resistance

Thursday, May 30, 2019

The Monsanto Papers : Roundup & The Canadian Connection - Enquête

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The Monsanto Papers : Roundup & The Canadian Connection - Enquête
(Reporter: Sylvie Fournier Producer: Gil Shochat. CBC News,  May 27, 2019)  40 minute video.
Enquête examines recently released Monsanto documents that expose secret practices the company (which was acquired last year by Bayer) used to defend glyphosate, including allegations of ghostwriting of scientific articles. 

filed under Industry Shenanigans


 

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Internal emails reveal how the chemical lobby fights regulation

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Internal emails reveal how the chemical lobby fights regulation

'Chemicals experts outside the industry say the lobbying efforts on TCE demonstrate the strategies that companies with toxic products have used for decades: sowing doubt about toxicology science, stalling regulation and wielding influence with political officials through campaign donations.

“The playbook repeats itself over and over,” said Sonya Lunder, a senior toxics adviser at the Sierra Club.

The US has long allowed companies to use thousands of chemicals with little or no data on whether they are safe. A 2016 update to US chemical laws is meant to require more testing, but critics say Trump’s EPA is using the new process to undermine ongoing reviews. The EPA says the changes to how it assesses chemicals will let the agency “expeditiously” regulate dangerous ones.'

filed under  industry shenanigans

Monday, May 27, 2019

Sask. farmer leads Roundup class action

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Sask. farmer leads Roundup class action   (By Robert Arnason. Western Producer,  May 23, 2019)  

Sunday, May 26, 2019

Environmental toxicants and autism spectrum disorders: a systematic review

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Environmental toxicants and autism spectrum disorders: a systematic review

(D A Rossignol et al, Transl Psychiatry. 2014 Feb; 4(2): e360)  link to full study. I am only reportign the pesticide data here. 
re: gestational exposure: "This model identified two peaks of developmental vulnerability, one that extended from 38 days before fertilization to 163 days following fertilization and a second postnatal peak ranging from 346 to 529 days post fertilization."  Exposure to organochlorine pesticides (specifically dicofol and endosulfan) and the organophosphates in general and the insecticide chlorpyrifos in particular were linked to development of autism spectrum disorder. '... 

re: childhood exposure: the evidence linking pesticide exposure in ASD does not appear as strong during childhood as during the gestational period particularly because there are fewer studies examining this factor during childhood; therefore, additional studies are warranted.'

filed under nervous system effects/ autism

Saturday, May 25, 2019

Fulfilling Legal Settlement with Limited Scope, EPA Cancels Twelve Neonicotinoid Products

For all but two of the twelve canceled products, a nearly identical surrogate remains actively registered.

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Fulfilling Legal Settlement with Limited Scope, EPA Cancels Twelve Neonicotinoid Products

(Beyond Pesticides, May 23, 2019)  'The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the final notices of cancellationon the registration of twelve neonicotinoid pesticide products in the Federal Register, each of which contains chlothianidin or thiamathoxam as an active ingredient... The case establishes a legal precedent in which the court required action to address the bee-toxic effects of pesticides; however, the effect of the settlement and its impact on overall neonicotinoid and other systemic insecticide use is limited'.

'For all but two of the twelve canceled products, a nearly identical surrogate remains actively registered. Furthermore, the fact remains that there are hundreds more products containing the active ingredients targeted by the lawsuit that have not been removed in any capacity – 106 products containing clothianidin and 95 containing thiamethoxam remain untouched on the market. Breaking down the impacts of the EPA ruling even further, there are several eerily similar classes of insecticides that operate the same way neonicotinoids do that remain untouched by regulation. The sulfoxamine insecticide sufloxaflor, for example, is functionally identical to the neonicotinoid imidacloprid, '

The federal pesticide law is a weak statute and offers limited protection for bees, the ecosystem, and public health” said Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides. 

filed under legal/litigation/USA

Saturday, May 25, 2019

Quebec woman seeks class-action lawsuit over Roundup cancer claim

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Friday, May 24, 2019

Center for Food Safety wins in case to force EPA to ban 12 neonicotinoids

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Center for Food Safety wins in case to force EPA to ban 12 neonicotinoids   (Food Safety News, By Dan Flynn on May 22, 2019)

'Final notices of cancellation for the registration of 12 neonicotinoid pesticides have been published in the Federal Register by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency...The decision to pull the pesticides from the market was part of a legal settlement reached in December 2018 involving the Center for Food Safety and the EPA.'

filed under legislation/regulatory/ USA

Saturday, May 18, 2019

Children Environmental Health Centers to Lose All EPA Funding Under Administration Proposal

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Children’s Environmental Health Centers to Lose All EPA Funding Under Administration Proposal  (Beyond Pesticides, May 17, 2019)

T'he work of these centers has been critical in uncovering the relationships between children’s exposures to toxic chemicals, including pesticides, and diseases and health anomalies later on in their developing years.' (some examples)

.The studies conducted by these centers often begin before birth and follow subjects through childhood and into adulthood, yielding unusually rich data that can track, for example, environmental exposures early in life and subsequent and related health problems years later. In addition, these longitudinal studies can adapt to the changing mixes of exposure risks children 'may face over 20 years or so as they grow from newborns to young adults.'

'The centers produce work that often leads to reform in policies and practices, and ultimately, improved health outcomes.'

Friday, May 17, 2019

New Transparency Project Finds Glyphosate in Top Selling Organic Pea Protein Products

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New Transparency Project Finds Glyphosate in Top Selling Organic Pea Protein Products

(Sustainable Pulse, May 15 2019)  'The Detox Project, working in coordination with Mamavation, are set to test thousands of best-selling products over the next 2 years to uncover the truth about the levels of pesticides in our food and supplements.'

'The Detox Project tested the top eight selling popular protein powders on Amazon. Most of these brands were vegan and contained pea protein, but they also tested brands with soy, whey, & collagen proteins as well.'

SNAP Comment:  These results are very concerning. It is mentioned that most of the supply come from Canada and China. Organic certification certifies growing methods but do not generally test for contamination after the fact. I suspect that low amounts in organics are likely contamination from water, rain, or drift. The very high level in one organic brand seems more like fraud to me. When you buy vegan products containing pea powder, you will never know where it came from and the level of contamination until the supply chains are regularly tested.

filed under food.

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Glyphosate linked to human liver disease

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It's in the weeds: Herbicide linked to human liver disease   (University of California - San Diego, May 2019)

'The results, they found, were significant: Regardless of age, race, body mass index (BMI), ethnicity or diabetes status, glyphosate residue was significantly higher in patients with NASH  (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, a type of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease or NAFLD),than it was in patients with a healthier liver... The findings, coupled with prior animal studies, said Mills, suggest a link between the use of commercial glyphosate in our food supply, which has increased significantly over the past 25 years, and the prevalence of NAFLD in the United States, which too has been on the rise for two decades.Mills plans to next put a group of patients on an all-organic diet and track them over the course of several months, examining how a herbicide-free diet might affect biomarkers of liver disease.'

filed under liver disease

Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Catastrophe as France s bird population collapses due to pesticides

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'Catastrophe' as France's bird population collapses due to pesticides (The Guardian, 21 March 2018)   Dozens of species have seen their numbers decline, in some cases by two-thirds, because insects they feed on have disappeared. 'The primary culprit, researchers speculate, is the intensive use of pesticides on vast tracts of monoculture crops, especially wheat and corn. The problem is not that birds are being poisoned, but that the insects on which they depend for food have disappeared.'

Tuesday, May 14, 2019

California Jury Awards $2 Billion To Couple In Roundup Weed Killer Cancer Trial

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California Jury Awards $2 Billion To Couple In Roundup Weed Killer Cancer Trial

(NPR, May 13, 2019)  'Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group said "The cloud hanging over Bayer will only grow bigger and darker, as more juries hear how Monsanto manipulated its own research, colluded with regulators and intimidated scientists to keep secret the cancer risks from glyphosate."' More detailed arguments at  Monsanto hit with $2 billion damages verdict in third Roundup trial * (GM Watch, 14 May 2019)

also  Jury Awards $2 Billion for Damages in Third Federal Roundup Cancer Case  (Beyond Pesticides, May 15, 2019) 'In an interview with U.S. Right to Know’s Carey Gillam, co-lead trial counsel Michael Miller said, “Unlike the first two Monsanto trials, where the judges severely limited the amount of plaintiffs’ evidence, we were finally allowed to show a jury the mountain of evidence showing Monsanto’s manipulation of science, the media and regulatory agencies to forward their own agenda despite Roundup’s severe harm to the animal kingdom and humankind.”

filed under legal/litigation

Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Fall in cotton production in Burkina Faso "nothing to do with phasing out of Bt cotton"

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Fall in cotton production in Burkina Faso "nothing to do with phasing out of Bt cotton"

Details
 Published: 08 May 2019

Monday, May 13, 2019

New York Bans Chlorpyrifos, Pressuring EPA to Impose Country-Wide Protections Against Brain-Damaging Pesticide

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Monday, May 13, 2019

Flight Distance of Bumblebees Impaired by Pesticide, Leads to 87% Decline in Accessible Forage Area

about the neonicotinoid imidacloprid

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Flight Distance of Bumblebees Impaired by Pesticide, Leads to 87% Decline in Accessible Forage Area     (Beyond Pesticides, May 6, 2019) 

'The study’s researchers find that worker bumblebees so exposed exhibit significant diminishment of flight endurance — measured as both distance and duration — to approximately one-third of what control workers demonstrate.' 

filed under neonicotinoids and wildlife/insects

Monday, May 13, 2019

Trump Officials Propose to Rollback Endangered Species Protection, Break Agreements to Act, and Block Public Review of Decisions

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Trump Officials Propose to Rollback Endangered Species Protection, Break Agreements to Act, and Block Public Review of Decisions

(Beyond Pesticides, May 13, 2019) The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) filed four lawsuits last week challenging the Trump administration’s failure to release a trove of documents detailing how the administration is regulating dangerous pesticides, especially as they relate to endangered species...The proposal disregards the recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences and ignores the mandate of the Endangered Species Act to give imperiled wildlife and plants the benefit of the doubt when evaluating the range of impacts caused by exposure to pesticides.'

filed under legislation/regulatory/ USA

Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Weedtechnics: a new source for steamweeding equipment.

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 Weedtechnics: a new source for steamweeding equipment. The previous ones had disappearedand I have been looking for a new company for years! The company is located in Australia but the steam-weeding equipment has a Canadian patent as well. Products are made in USA and Australia.

The city of St-Albert near Edmonton is moving to their Satusteam Weed Control steamer instead of Roundup/glyphosate. It has other uses as well. link to their electric steamer. There are also several other models.For some reason the links in the main page don't work but clicking on the "products' link at the bottom of the page in the dark gray section gets you to the products. 

filed under alternatives/weeds and  programs/Organic Land Care Training for Municipal Officials or Transitioning Landscapers

Sunday, May 5, 2019

Wildlife rehab centre wants ban on pigeon control products

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Wildlife rehab centre wants ban on pigeon control products

Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation director Jan Shadick is calling for the ban after a sharp spike in cases of apparently-poisoned pigeons. (Alex MacPherson, Saskatoon Star Phoenix, May 3, 2019)

'In 2016, the federal government granted “continued registration” of products containing 4-aminopyridine for use on birds, including “feral pigeons.” At the time, the only such products available were all manufactured and sold under the name Avitrol...While Avitrol is legal to use in Canada, some municipalities in the country have opted to cease using it. The cities of Red Deer and Halifax have both committed to no longer using Avitrol. It is also banned in New York and San Francisco.'

SNAP doesn't yet have a page on alternative to pesticides for bird control.In the meantime, I posted this article in on the alternatives main page or one one can go to Pigeon Control Resource Center Friday, May 3, 2019

Part 2: Even more reasons why we can’t be confident in Health Canada’s assessment that glyphosate is safe

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Part 2: Even more reasons why we can’t be confident in Health Canada’s assessment that glyphosate is safe (Environmental Defense, 2 May 2019, Sarah Jamal)

link to part 1 in document. 'But what the CFIA left out of this report was data for wheat, corn and oats. Radio-Canada revealed that, in fact, 80 per cent of wheat samples and 74 per cent of oat samples were contaminated with glyphosate. This is consistent with our What’s in your lunch? study where we found 80 per cent of food products that we tested contained glyphosate. What remains unclear is why Health Canada chose not to publish the data on wheat, corn and oat contamination in its 2016 report or in a follow-up report it planned to publish in 2018.'

filed under food - pesticides in 

Friday, May 3, 2019

State Court Upholds the Right of Local Governments in Maryland to Restrict Pesticides on All Lawns in Their Jurisdiction

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Friday, May 3, 2019

Neonicotinoid Insecticide Residues in Food and Water on the Rise, According to USDA Data

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Friday, May 3, 2019

Pesticides are all over the St. Lawrence River — many at levels that hurt fish and invertebrates

nearly one-third of the samples had neonicotinoid pesticides at levels higher than the threshold to protect aquatic creatures. Glyphosate and atrazine were in more than 80% of samples.

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Pesticides are all over the St. Lawrence River — many at levels that hurt fish and invertebrates

 nearly one-third of the samples had neonicotinoid pesticides at levels higher than the threshold to protect aquatic creatures. Glyphosate and atrazine were in more than 80% of samples.  (Environmental Health News, Brian Bienkowski, May 1, 2019)

'The study, published in Environmental Pollution, found that 99 percent of 68 water samples collected from the large water system contained at least one of the 10 pesticides researchers tested for and 31 percent of the samples contained neonicotinoids at levels higher than Canada allows....In the new study, researchers tested for glyphosate, atrazine and a suite of neonicotinoids. Glyphosate was found in 84 percent of the samples and atrazine was found in 82 percent...In a companion paper to the new study, the scientists found atrazine and one of its metabolites in all 450 water samples taken from 2015 to 2018 from drinking water in Quebec.'
filed under  pesticides in water /Canada

Sunday, April 28, 2019

Assessment of Glyphosate Induced Epigenetic Transgenerational Inheritance of Pathologies and Sperm Epimutations: Generational Toxicology

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Assessment of Glyphosate Induced Epigenetic Transgenerational Inheritance of Pathologies and Sperm Epimutations: Generational Toxicology (Scientific Reports | (2019) 9:6372 

scientific paper.' Therefore, we propose glyphosate can induce the transgenerational inheritance of disease and germline (e.g. sperm) epimutations. Observations suggest the generational toxicology of glyphosate needs to be considered in the disease etiology of future generations.'

filed under glyphosate and endocrine disruption 

Sunday, April 28, 2019

Israeli invents device that can test pesticide residues on food in real time

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Israeli invents device that can test pesticide residues on food in real time  (GM Watch,:27 April 2019)

'Incubated at The Kitchen FoodTech Hub in Ashdod, Inspecto’s portable system can be tailored to detect specific kinds of chemical contamination in real time, in the field or indoors at any point along the production line.' Apparently, it is only for ready commercial interests and not consumers at this point.

filed under exposure to pesticides/ testing

Sunday, April 28, 2019

U.S. Health Agency Concurs with International Findings Linking Weed Killer Glyphosate to Cancer, while Inspector General Investigates Misconduct at EPA

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U.S. Health Agency Concurs with International Findings Linking Weed Killer Glyphosate to Cancer, while Inspector General Investigates Misconduct at EPA

(Beyond Pesticides, April 23, 2019)   'But despite the attempts of an apparently corrupt EPA official, earlier this month DHHS’ Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) released its first draft on the Toxicological Profile for Glyphosate. Top-line findings appear consistent with conclusions made by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) on the carcinogenicity of glyphosate...However, the studies and references analyzed in the report indicate clearly there is strong link between glyphosate and cancer. Of particular note are the three meta-analyses of epidemiological studies reviewed by ATSDR: Schinasi and Leon (2014), Chang and Delzell (2016), and the IARC monograph, which all found “positive associations” between glyphosate exposure and cancer. The Chang and Delzell (2016) study, funded in part by Monsanto itself, downplays in its abstract conclusions that in fact line up closely to the other meta-studies.'

filed under glyphosate and cancer

Sunday, April 28, 2019

New survey in humans shows link between advanced liver disease and glyphosate

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New survey in humans shows link between advanced liver disease and glyphosate (GM Watch, 23 April 2019)

'The new study advances previous research led by Dr Michael Antoniou at King's College London. Dr Antoniou's team found that rats fed the glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup at very low levels within regulatory safety limits developed NAFLD and NASH over a long-term period of two years...Prof Mills' study does not prove that glyphosate actually causes liver disease. It is an "after the fact" study in humans with liver disease, in which exposure to glyphosate herbicide was not controlled but glyphosate excretion was measured after the subjects became ill. However, it does show a correlation between high glyphosate levels in human urine and NASH.'
filed under pesticides and the digestive tract 

Sunday, April 28, 2019

Deadly Fungal Infection Raises Concerns about Fungicides Used in Agriculture

evelopment of resistance may be the overuse of antifungal medications in health care and overreliance on fungicides in agriculture.

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Deadly Fungal Infection Raises Concerns about Fungicides Used in Agriculture

(Beyond Pesticides, April 25, 2019)  Candida aurisis an emerging fungal pathogen that threatens those with compromised or immature immune systems, such as infants, the elderly, people taking steroids for autoimmune disorders, diabetics, those undergoing chemotherapy, and even smokers. Nearly half of those who contract a C. auris infection die within 90 days. One of the factors making this fungus so deadly is that it has developed resistance to existing antifungal medicines, with 90% of infections resistant to one drug, and 30% to two or more. As is true for resistant bacteria, culprits in C. auris’s development of resistance may be the overuse of antifungal medications in health care and overreliance on fungicides in agriculture.

filed under immune/infection

Saturday, April 20, 2019

Despite Safety Claims, Insecticide Flupyradifurone Is Bee-Toxic on Its Own and Worse in Combination

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Despite Safety Claims, Insecticide Flupyradifurone Is Bee-Toxic on Its Own and Worse in Combination  (Beyond Pesticides, April 17, 2019)

'It functions in the same way as a neonicotinoid, though it is in the butanolide family.' Link to study in article. 'It also delves into the FPF’s synergistic effects with a commonly used fungicide propiconazole (PRO).'.  

SNAP Comment: As of 20 April 2019, this insecicide does not appear to be registered in Canada.

filed uder Flupyradifurone

Saturday, April 20, 2019

Autism Linked to Wide Range of Commonly Used Pesticides

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Autism Linked to Wide Range of Commonly Used Pesticides

(Beyond Pesticides, March 27, 2019) Exposure to commonly used pesticides in the womb and during the first year of life is linked to a higher risk of developing autism, according to the study, “Prenatal and infant exposure to ambient pesticides and autism spectrum disorder in children: population based case-control study,” published in the journal BMJ last week. Although the study does not reveal a causal link, it adds to previous literature highlighting autism risks from pesticide exposure,

filed under autism

Saturday, April 20, 2019

Europe Waterways Contaminated by Pesticides and Antibiotics

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Europe’s Waterways Contaminated by Pesticides and Antibiotics

(Beyond Pesticides, April 11, 2019) A recent study of 29 discrete, small European waterways found ubiquitous pesticide contamination. Analyzed samples contained a total of 103 different pesticides and 21 veterinary drugs... Pesticides find their way into water systems via dry deposition (absorption of particles from the atmosphere), pesticide drift, and runoff from contaminated soils...There were 24 unapproved pesticides in the water samples. Rather than illegal current use, it is more likely that these are leftover pesticides from former, legal applications and are only now leaching into the waterways.'

SNAP's Comment: If they had checked for human used drugs, the contamination would likely have been much worse. 

filed under water

Saturday, April 20, 2019

Neonicotinoid Insecticides Found to Disrupt Insects’ Vision and Flying Ability

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Neonicotinoid Insecticides Found to Disrupt Insects’ Vision and Flying Ability  (Beyond Pesticides, April 19, 2019) link to the original study.." “Our findings suggest that very low doses of the pesticide or its metabolic products can profoundly and negatively affect motion detection systems that flying insects, such as locusts, grasshoppers and bees, need for survival,” said Jack Gray, PhD, an expert in neural control of animal behavior at the University of Saskatchewan.' 'The results show that exposure significantly impairs how locusts to respond to visual stimuli. Researchers found that roughly an hour following an initial exposure, most of the insects either were unable to fly or flew very poorly, unable to respond to stimuli or avoid objects in their flight path. Interestingly, the impacts were more pronounced when exposed to the breakdown products of the pesticide than the active ingredient itself.'

filed under neonicotinoids

Saturday, April 20, 2019

Filmmaker & Former Groundskeeper Who Sued Monsanto & Won To Premiere Film “Ground War”

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Filmmaker & Former Groundskeeper Who Sued Monsanto & Won To Premiere Film “Ground War”

(Beyond Pesticides, April 2, 2019) The new documentary film “Ground War” will have its New York City premiere screening on Saturday, April 6, 2019, 7:30pm at Florence Gould Hall, 55 East 59th Street, New York, NY. The film is a moving depiction of a son’s quest for answers about the cause of his father’s cancer—which takes him into the world of doctors, scientists, pesticide regulators, victims of pesticide poisoning, activists, and land managers.

filed uder health/cancer

Saturday, April 20, 2019

Organic Farming Curbs the Spread of Foodborne Pathogens, According to Study

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Organic Farming Curbs the Spread of Foodborne Pathogens, According to Study. (Beyond Pesticides, April 18, 2019)   

Organic farming promotes natural resistance to common foodborne human pathogens, according to a study that evaluates the benefit of soil organisms. By protecting valuable species of dung beetles and soil bacteria, organic farming systems naturally act to clean up and decompose potentially pathogen-bearing animal feces. 

filed under organics/health

Saturday, April 20, 2019

European Regulators Ban Carcinogenic, Frog-Killing Fungicide

about fungicide chlorothalonil

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European Regulators Ban Carcinogenic, Frog-Killing Fungicide

(Beyond Pesticides, April 4, 2019) Contamination of drinking water with toxic breakdown products and risks to fish and and amphibians has led to a ban on the fungicide chlorothalonil in the European Union (EU)... Chlorothalonil has been in use since the 1960s, yet only now are regulators beginning to understand its impacts to human health, water quality, pollinators and aquatic species; after half a century and tens of millions of pounds of use. Cases like these are not rare, or an exception, but frustratingly common in the world of pesticide regulation.' SNAP Comment: There are currently 36 chlorothalonil  products registered for use by the PMRA in Canada..

filed under Legislation/Regulatory/Europe

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Toxicity of formulants and heavy metals in glyphosate-based herbicides and other pesticides

includes several charts including fig 6: the sum of heavy metals in formulations

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Toxicity of formulants and heavy metals in glyphosate-based herbicides and other pesticides
(Toxicol Rep. 2018; 5: 156–163, Published online 2017 Dec 30) 

SNAP Comment: I am sure Seralini’s study is accurate, however he works in France and of most of the products listed on the chart, few appear registered under these names in Canada. It doesn’t mean there is no heavy metal contamination in Canadian products, but simply that no one looked. I suspect that, with the low concentrations identified, heavy metals are more contaminants than formulants.

'In Fig. 6, we observe that the sum of heavy metals in formulations after their different recommended dilutions can reach up to 80 ppb.'

Glyphosate herbicides under Glyphosate Isopropylamine Salt (https://www.trc-canada.com/product-detail/?G765004} have the following listed under synonyms: Bayer Glyphosate Concentrate (same as Bayer GC), Clinic E.V, Glyfos AU; Glyfos BIO (same as Glyfos?), Glyphogan) but all listed under the same CAS number 38641-94-0

Other herbicides: 6160 2,4-D products registered but 0 under 'Lonpar', 0 Isoproturon and 0 Fluoroxypyr.

Fungicides: 18 Folpet products registered including 3 under “Folpan’, 0 under Prochloraze, 32 Tebuconazole products but 0 under 'Maronee', 0 Epoxiconazole, 13 Boscalid products but 0 under 'Pictor', 3 Fenhexamid products including 0 under 'Teldor'.

Insecticides: 29 Chlorpyrifos products including 3 under ‘Pyrinex’, 0 Acetamipride

filed under formulants/inerts

 

Monday, April 1, 2019

Pesticide-Free Towns Campaign gains momentum (in the UK)

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Pesticide-Free Towns Campaign gains momentum (in the UK)

(PAN UK, March 22nd, 2019) Not long after the recent news from the London Borough of Croydon, which has ended the use of pesticides in all its public parks and green spaces, we have news from three major UK cities that are switching to pesticide-free: Bristol, Derry and Trafford, joining the ranks of Hammersmith & Fulham, Lewes, Wadebridge, Glastonbury and others.

filed under bylaws/International

Friday, March 29, 2019

Portland’s ban on synthetic pesticides goes into effect

Private property owners can use only organic treatments for gardens and lawns.

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Portland’s ban on synthetic pesticides goes into effect Private property owners can use only organic treatments for gardens and lawns. (Press Herald, March 25, 2019)

filed under bylaws/USA

Friday, March 29, 2019

New Report Documents Impacts of GM Contamination in Canada

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Media Release: New Report Documents Impacts of GM Contamination in Canada (CBAN. March 26, 2019)

'The costs of GM contamination and escape incidents include the temporary or permanent loss of export markets, lower crop prices, the loss of access to grow a particular crop, and the loss of some farm-saved seed.'

filed under gmos

Friday, March 29, 2019

Weed killer residues found in 98 percent of Canadian honey samples

Study is the latest evidence that glyphosate herbicides are so pervasive that residues can be found in foods not produced by farmers using glyphosate.

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Weed killer residues found in 98 percent of Canadian honey samples

Study is the latest evidence that glyphosate herbicides are so pervasive that residues can be found in foods not produced by farmers using glyphosate.(Environmental Health News, Mar 22, 2019)  The study also found residues of AMPA (glyphosate degradation product)  and Bayer's glufosinate herbicide respectively in 98% and over 60% of samples in the honey samples. Link to report in article

'The prevalence of glyphosate residues in honey samples - 98.5 percent - was higher than what was reported in several similar studies done over the last five years in other countries..The Canadian report, published in a journal called Food Additives & Contaminants: Part A, said that glyphosate is currently an active ingredient in 181 herbicides registered for use in Canada and its widespread use has made it commonly found in the environment.'

'The Canadian study authors said that all of the levels they found were below the European limit. "People think the standards are protective of public health but they are not," Dr. Philip Landrigan, director of the Global Public Health Program at Boston College, told EHN. "The optimal amount" of pesticide residues in food is "zero," he said. "Remember, many of the people eating honey are children."'

In 1993, for example, the EPA had a tolerance for glyphosate in oats at 0.1 parts per million (ppm) but in 1996 Monsanto asked EPA to raise the tolerance to 20 ppm and the EPA did as asked. In 2008, at Monsanto's suggestion, the EPA again looked to raise the tolerance for glyphosate in oats, this time to 30 ppm.' 

SNAP Comment: How scientific is raising a tolerance limit supposedly determined scientifically because the legal limit can no loger be met? Let's face it, th dose at which 1/2 the experimental animals die divided by whatever number implies there is an acceptable level of contamination. However, it never accounts for widespread low dose effects.

filed under foods

Thursday, March 28, 2019

Tests Reveal Benefits of Eating Organic

Surprising Pesticide Levels From Eating Conventional Foods

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Tests Reveal Benefits of Eating Organic
Surprising Pesticide Levels From Eating Conventional Foods        (by BC Farms & Food,  March 24, 2019}

'After the first six days on the conventional diet, daily urine tests revealed that all of the families had detectable levels of agricultural pesticides in their bodies. These toxins included organophosphates, neonicotinoids, pyrethroids, and 2,4-D herbicide—insecticides and weed killers used on a wide range of food crops.'

'For the next six days, the families ate a completely organic diet. At the end of the week of all-organic eating, the pesticide levels in the test families’ urine samples decreased by an average 60.5 percent. The results surprised the researchers and delighted the families.'

filed under foods and exposure also see Organic diet intervention significantly reduces urinary pesticide levels in U.S. children and adults  

Thursday, March 28, 2019

Documents Reveal that Interior Nominee Censored Endangered Species Assessment of Organophosphates

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Documents Reveal that Interior Nominee Censored Endangered Species Assessment of Organophosphates

(Beyond Pesticides, March 28, 2019) 'A set of documents obtained by the Center for Biological Diversity reveals that the Trump administration has known for over a year – and actively concealed – that the organophosphate insecticide chlorpyrifos jeopardizes the existence of 1,399 endangered species. Top officials at the U.S. Department of the Interior, including Acting Secretary David Bernhardt, were privy to and prevented the release of a “biological opinion,” completed by the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in 2017, which contains a full analysis of the extensive environmental impacts wrought by three organophosphate insecticides'. Malathion and diazinon also jeopardize endangered species. The effects of all three are cumulative because they have the same mechanism of action. 'The FWS opinion, a compilation of nearly four years of rigorous scientific review, was not just a routine assessment; rather, it was the outcome of a legal settlement with CBD, which required EPA and FWS to make such assessments public by the end of 2017. In April of 2017, Dow AgroSciences directly requested that the agencies abandon the assessment.'.

filed under wildlife and industry shenanigans/interference with research

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Another Study Links Glyphosate to Cancer

elevated risk for non Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and some subtypes, linking glyphosate and large B-cell lymphoma

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Another Study Links Glyphosate to Cancer

also a link to study. (Beyond Pesticides, March 26, 2019) 'In a study investigating the carcinogenic effects of pesticide exposure by analyzing data on 316,270 farmers and farmworkers in the U.S., Norway, and France, researchers have identified elevated risk for non Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and some subtypes, linking glyphosate and large B-cell lymphoma. Other pesticides linked to the disease include the pyrethroid deltamethrin and chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma; and terbufos and NHL overall.'

'For this research, chemical groups and active ingredients were selected based on common use in at least two of the three countries. In addition, researchers gave priority to chemical groups and active ingredients for which some associative evidence with lympho-hematological malignancies has already been established, and to active ingredients not previously investigated in epidemiological studies. Glyphosate and dicamba were included in the study, as well as these categorical compounds: four insecticides (organophosphates, organochlorines, carbamates, and pyrethroids); seven herbicides (phenyl ureas, chloroacetanilides, dinitroanilines, phenoxys, thiocarbamates, triazines, and triazinones); two fungicides (dithiocarbamates and phthalimides); and arsenical compounds.

filed under glyphosate  and cancer/ links between individual chemicals...

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

The Dirty Dozen: Triclosan

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The Dirty Dozen: Triclosan (David Suzuki Foundation, 2019)

 'Health Canada’s Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist limits the concentration of triclosan to 0.03 per cent in mouthwashes and 0.3 per cent in other cosmetics. The problem is that triclosan is used in so many products that the small amounts found in each product add up — particularly since the chemical does not readily degrade.'

SNAP Comment:  You may find it difficult to buy regular toothpaste that doesn't contain it. You have to seek alternatives. I believe it can be listed under other names too. Another bad player is triclocarban. Both are registered as pesticides in Canada and the US. How hard it is to get a registered chemical banned!  Where is the balance between improving oral health and loading your body with a toxin hard to get rid of?  from   The 50-Year War Over Toxic Chemical Triclosan 'But the new regulations the FDA is currently proposing, which will become final in 2016, won’t ban triclosan. Instead, they will remove the presumption that triclosan is an effective antibacterial agent. Products labeled “antibacterial” will have to show the FDA evidence that they work better than soap and water.'  'The new regulations won’t touch products that aren’t used with water, like those hand-sanitizing gels. Nor will they affect toothpastes containing triclosan, which most experts agree improve oral health. 

filed under anti-bacterials 

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Prenatal and infant exposure to ambient pesticides and autism spectrum disorder in children: population based case-control study

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Prenatal and infant exposure to ambient pesticides and autism spectrum disorder in children: population based case-control study  (Ondine S von Ehrenstein et al, BMJ, 20 March 2019)

11 high use pesticides were selected for examination. Risk of autism spectrum disorder was associated with prenatal exposure to glyphosate, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, malathion, avermectin, and permethrin. For autism spectrum disorder with intellectual disability, estimated odds ratios were higher (by about 30%) for prenatal exposure to glyphosate, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, permethrin, methyl bromide, and myclobutanil; exposure in the first year of life increased the odds for the disorder with comorbid intellectual disability by up to 50% for some pesticide substances. Also see Autism Linked to Wide Range of Commonly Used Pesticides (Beyond Pesticides, March 27, 2019)  for more in depth analaysis.

filed under Health/nervous system /autism

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Study Finds that Commonly Occurring Levels of Neonicotinoid Insecticide Harm White-tailed Deer

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Saturday, March 23, 2019

General Mills Commits to Large Acreage of Regenerative Agriculture, Short of Organic

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General Mills Commits to Large Acreage of Regenerative Agriculture, Short of Organic  (Beyond Pesticides, March 21, 2019)

'General Mills is making significant investments, including grand-scale land conversions and working with training partners. They have donated $650,000 to nonprofit organization Kiss the Ground for training and coaching. Part of their million-acre effort includes converting 34,000 acres in South Dakota from conventional farm land to organic.'

filed under organics/ farming

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Roundup was substantial factor in man’s cancer, jury finds

delivering a major blow to the Bayer AG unit in the first such federal bellwether trial and setting the stage for a second phase to determine damages.

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Monsanto's Roundup Likely Caused Cancer, Calif. Jury Says (Law36 , March 19, 2019) delivering a major blow to the Bayer AG unit in the first such federal bellwether trial and setting the stage for a second phase to determine damages... The case will now proceed to the second trial phase to determine whether Monsanto failed to warn Hardeman about the product's alleged cancer risks, as well as any damages. The parties will present opening arguments in the next phase of the trial on Wednesday. also covered by GM Watch and Beyond Pesticides

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Not Just Bumble and Honey: Ground Nesting Bees Impaired by Neonicotinoid Exposure

about the neonicotinoid imidacloprid

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Not Just Bumble and Honey: Ground Nesting Bees Impaired by Neonicotinoid Exposure  (Beyond Pesticides, March 19, 2019) 

'Chronic contact with realistic soil concentrations of imidacloprid affects the mass, immature development speed, and adult longevity of solitary bees, recently published in Scientific Reports, confirms that wild, soil-dwelling bees are at similar risk. As policy makers consider ways to protect pollinators, this research finds that uncontaminated soil is an important aspect of ensuring the health of wild, native bees.'

'The changes are likely a result of a hormetic response by the pollinators. This is a phenomena that results from exposure to pesticides; changes in development occur in order to compensate for energy the bee diverts into physical and biological protections from pesticide exposure. This has important implications for the long term health of ground-nesting bees. Any change in development that distracts or alters normal functioning can affect fitness in the field.'

filed under wildlife/insects

Saturday, March 16, 2019

Organic diet intervention significantly reduces urinary pesticide levels in U.S. children and adults

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 Organic diet intervention significantly reduces urinary pesticide levels in U.S. children and adults   (Environmental Research, Volume 171, April 2019, Pages 568-575)

An organic diet was associated with significant reductions in urinary excretion of several pesticide metabolites and parent compounds. This study adds to a growing body of literature indicating that an organic diet may reduce exposure to a range of pesticides in children and adults. Additional research is needed to evaluate dietary exposure to neonicotinoids, which are now the most widely used class of insecticides in the world.

filed under exposusre

Saturday, March 16, 2019

A Pesticide Distributor, an Insurance Company, a Major City, and a Scientific Study Nix Glyphosate (Roundup)

insurance companies will no longer underwrite coverage for Harrell company for any glyphosate-related claims.

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A Pesticide Distributor, an Insurance Company, a Major City, and a Scientific Study Nix Glyphosate (Roundup)  (Beyond Pesticides, March 15, 2019) .

'First up: Harrell’s is a company that sells chemical pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, and “adjuvants and colorants,” among other products, primarily to golf courses, and to the horticulture-nursery, turf, and landscape sectors. The company announced on March 11 that it stopped selling products containing glyphosate as of March 1, 2019 because neither its current insurance company nor others the company consulted would underwrite coverage for the company for any glyphosate-related claims.'

SNAP Comment: Perhaps the Canadian insurance industry should get on that too.... seems like what a government refuses to do (ban a problematic product) can be achieved by the insurance industry without any backlash.

filed under glyphosate

Saturday, March 16, 2019

Bee-Toxic Neonicotinoid Insecticide Exposure Linked to Hormone-Dependent Breast Cancer

neonicotinoid insecticides thiacloprid and imidacloprid

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Bee-Toxic Neonicotinoid Insecticide Exposure Linked to Hormone-Dependent Breast Cancer  (Beyond Pesticides, March 7, 2019)  

'environmental concentrations of the neonicotinoid insecticides thiacloprid and imidacloprid increase expression of a gene linked to hormone-dependent breast cancer.'

SNAP Comment: Let's also remember that neonicotinoids were conditionally registered, i.e. registered prior to all the mandated tests submitted. In any case, it is likely that the test used in this study is part of the mandated tests as the list dates from 1984.

filed under neonicotinoids and cancer /links
 

Saturday, March 16, 2019

Arkansas Tried to Restrict the Use of This Controversial Pesticide. Monsanto Fought Back and Won.

Dicamba drift has damaged millions of dollars worth of crops, as well as wildflowers that honeybees rely on to produce honey.

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Arkansas Tried to Restrict the Use of This Controversial Pesticide. Monsanto Fought Back and Won.
Dicamba drift has damaged millions of dollars worth of crops, as well as wildflowers that honeybees rely on to produce honey. (LIZA GROSS, Mother Jones, MARCH 1, 2019) 

'As reported last year by FERN and Reveal, dicamba has damaged millions of dollars worth of crops over the past two years, after the EPA dismissed scientists’ concerns and approved the weedkiller for new uses on soybean and cotton seeds that Monsanto engineered to tolerate it. It has also harmed trees, gardens, and the wildflowers bees need to thrive and produce honey. '

filed under dicamba

Saturday, March 16, 2019

Pesticide Exposure Alters Gene Expression in Bumblebees

neonicotinoids clothianidin and imidacloprid, conditionally registered

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Pesticide Exposure Alters Gene Expression in Bumblebees (Beyond Pesticides, March 13, 2019)  

“Our work demonstrates that the type of high-resolution molecular approach that has changed the way human diseases are researched and diagnosed, can also be applied to beneficial pollinators. This approach provides an unprecedented view of how bees are being affected by pesticides and works at large scale. It can fundamentally improve how we evaluate the toxicity of chemicals we put into nature.

'Clothianidin had a stronger impact on bumblebee colonies, changing the expression of 55 genes in worker bees and 17 genes in queens. The affected genes are involved in important biological processes such as mitochondrial function. Researchers noted with interest that there was almost no overlap between the genes that were impacted in queens versus workers. Comparatively, imidacloprid altered expression of only one gene in workers. The divergent effects of these two similar pesticides indicates distinct genetic mechanisms of toxicity.'

SNAP Comment: This type of evidence is certainly not mandated for pesticide registration and it may take decades before it it considered in re-evaluation.

filed under wildlife/insects

Saturday, March 16, 2019

European Court of Justice Orders EU Regulators to Publicly Release Secret Industry Glyphosate Studies

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European Court of Justice Orders EU Regulators to Publicly Release Secret Industry Glyphosate Studies (Organic Consumer Association, March 7, 2019)

'The General Court concludes that the requested studies must be regarded as constituting information which ‘relates to emissions into the environment’ and that an overriding public interest in disclosing the studies is deemed to exist. EFSA could not therefore refuse to disclose them on the ground that that would have an adverse effect on the protection of the commercial interests of the owners of the requested studies.'

Original document at:

EFSA’s decisions refusing access to the toxicity and carcinogenicity studies on the active substance glyphosate are annulled

General Court of the European Union
PRESS RELEASE No 25/19
Luxembourg, 7 March 2019
Judgment in Cases T-716/14
Anthony C. Tweedale v European Food Safety Agency
(EFSA) and T-329/17 Hautala and Others v EFSA
 

filed under glyphosate and risk assessment

Saturday, March 16, 2019

Study Raises Ecological Concerns about EPA-Approved RNAi Pesticides that Turn Off Genes

the scale of the “unknown” is truly daunting,

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Study Raises Ecological Concerns about EPA-Approved RNAi Pesticides that Turn Off Genes   (Beyond Pesticides, March 8, 2019)  

'these investigators were able to attach a radioactive atom to the molecule, “tagging” it so it could be followed through a series of simulated soil systems representative of those in the “real” world. Researchers were able to measure the presence of the material at concentrations as low as a few nanograms of dsRNA per gram of soil. The work of these researchers represents the beginning of understanding the ecological risks of these emerging dsRNA pesticides.

'Adding to concern is the fact that, unlike traditional pesticides, which pose no risk to nontarget organisms if there is no physical or physiologic exposure to these toxicants in the environment, this GE technology represents unknown levels of potential exposure. If the technology is broadly adopted, the scale of the “unknown” is truly daunting, given the amount of land in the U.S. that is planted in corn, never mind its potential use in other commodity crops (soybeans, cotton, e.g.). Further, there is little-to-nothing yet understood about effects on ecosystems where this technology could be deployed, or effects on people (or other animals) after specific dsRNA/RNAi is ingested dietarily.'

filed under gmos

Friday, March 15, 2019

Study Confirms Findings on Carcinogenic Glyphosate, Suggests “Compelling Link”

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Study Confirms Findings on Carcinogenic Glyphosate, Suggests “Compelling Link”  (Beyond Pesticides, February 28, 2019)  

Statistical analysis revealed there to be a 41% increased risk of NHL resulting from high exposure to glyphosate-based herbicides. To compare and add weight to their results, researchers also conducted a second statistical analysis using older (2005) AHS data, which surprisingly revealed a higher, 45% risk.

filed under glyphosate and cancer

Friday, March 15, 2019

$340 Billion in Annual Disease-Related Costs Associated with Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals

a new book

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$340 Billion in Annual Disease-Related Costs Associated with Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals  (Beyond Pesticides, March 1, 2019)  

'January 2019 saw the publication of a new book, Sicker Fatter Poorer: The Urgent Threat of Hormone-Disrupting Chemicals to Our Health and Future … and What We Can Do About It, by Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP, which examines how some chemicals — including organophosphate and organochlorine pesticides — disrupt human endocrine (hormonal) function, and damage health, sometimes irreparably.The book further investigates the economic costs of associated diseases and other health problems to the U.S. economy — on the order of 2.3% of GDP (gross domestic product), or $340 billion, annually. As Dr. Trasande notes, “The reality is that policy predicts exposure, exposure predicts disease and disease ultimately costs our economy.”

filed under endocrine disruption 

Thursday, March 14, 2019

Scientists warn about the dangerous interaction of plant protection products

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Scientists warn about the dangerous interaction of plant protection products (ESTONIAN RESEARCH COUNCIL, 12 MAR-2019)   

'Using a hymenopteran parasitoid wasp Aphelinus abdominalis (a globally distributed species widely used in biocontrol) as a model, a team of researchers showed the enhanced effect of a low-concentration insecticide (thiacloprid) treatment when combined with various concentrations of a fungicide (tebuconazole). '

SNAP Comment: It is absolutely correct that pesticides are only evaluated one at a time, even when regularly used as a mixture like lawn chemicals (2,4-D,, mecoprop and dicamba)

filed under neonicotinoids and wildlife/insects

Friday, March 8, 2019

PMRA’s decision to reduce international engagement when it comes to MRLs could impede Canadian agricultural exports.

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PMRA’s decision to reduce international engagement when it comes to MRLs could impede Canadian agricultural exports.(By Robin Booker, Western Producer, 7 March 2019)

SNAP Comment: Nice to know the PMRA isn't political enough already! Yes the pesticide review process is flawed and has been for a long time. If a pesticide is considered useful, that's all it needs to trump all the negative health studies. As far as I know, no known alternative product (Bt, essential oils, etc) or management method (crop rotation, correcting nutrient deficiencies or damage to soil organisms) is within the mandate to evaluate a pesticide. Mixtures are not evaluated. Formulations are not evaluated, just a single pesticide at a time. Conditionally reglstered pesticides don't have all the studies in to support their use. Many of the pesticides still in use today were grandfathered after widespread laboratory fraud in the 1970s and 80s. There is no mechanism to properly consider low dose effects or endocrine effects in registration or re-evaluation. Many scientists on a pesticide evaluation or re-evaluation committee are industry spokespeople rather than independent scientists and on and on.

In my view, the PMRA and US EPA have to reform the way they evaluate pesticides. They have to start using the precautionary principle instead of their current inappropriate "dose makes the poison" approach which is shown inadequate to ensure safety every time another pesticide is proven by research to have a significant health effect at current doses found in the environment. I can't believe this is what industry wants because it would only results in .lower or NO permissoble levels in food (MRLs).

When Canada refuses to register a product or is ready to ban one, it takes years to achieve and negotiation with industry so we don't end up sued for millions or billions of $ of potential lost revenue. I understand it is big business to sue government to get one's way. That is why all companies became international, so they can sue and force governments to do their bidding. So why don't CropLife Canada, the Canola Council and other industry groups just sue the governments that ban those products rather than telling the PMRA that they should apply pressure themselves? I thought that was the most hated part of free trade agreements...but can be done only by a business perceiving they have been 'slighted' of much money or opportunity. If the pesticide industry and growers following its lead stands to lose money, the decisions leading to it have to be 'unfair' according to them. so what? now they want to save money by getting the government to do their work?

Believe me, no imagination is needed to see the widespread contamination of our environment, water, food as well as our bodies with pesticides. Only tests are needed, and they have indicated a widespread problem. No imagination is needed to see the depletion of our soils.

'Under a recommendation titled Acceptance of Products by Export Markets, the January report states “the Committee recommends that the Government of Canada resolve irritants and issues that limit innovation and competitiveness in export markets to have them accept domestically approved products or technological processes.”...The purpose of the white paper is to have the PMRA change its re-evaluation process to improve stakeholder engagement, and to have Health Canada acknowledge its role in facilitating access to innovative technologies and its role in the agriculture sector’s competitiveness....He said CropLife is not suggesting the importance of human health or the environment be lessened in the review process, but the process should also include how decisions will affect the agricultural sector.'

“The consideration of other factors, economic factors, what growers would use in the alternative, what the impacts might be to using alternative products, those are broader discussions that should at least be part of the consideration,” Petelle said.'
“The PMRA’s re-evaluation practices are eroding the public’s trust in Canada’s federal regulatory system and potentially creating unnecessary trade concerns.”

Thursday, February 28, 2019

How did the US EPA and IARC reach diametrically opposed conclusions on the genotoxicity of glyphosate-based herbicides?

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Thursday, February 21, 2019

The herbicide glyphosate persists in wild, edible plants: B.C. study

Wood found unexpected levels of glyphosate in new shoots and berries of plants that survived an aerial herbicide application made one year earlier.

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The herbicide glyphosate persists in wild, edible plants: B.C. study (RANDY SHORE, Vancouver Sun, February 20, 2019)

'Wood found unexpected levels of glyphosate in new shoots and berries of plants that survived an aerial herbicide application made one year earlier... The 10 species tested were selected for their importance as traditional-use plants, because some First Nations had expressed concerns about the long-term effects of glyphosate on wild plants, said Wood...Glyphosate is typically broken down in soil by microorganisms over a period of months, but how long it persists in living plant tissues is unknown, she said.'

filed under Exposure to Pesticides and glyphosate

Thursday, February 21, 2019

DDT Exposure During Early Life Associated with Increased Risk of Breast Cancer

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DDT Exposure During Early Life Associated with Increased Risk of Breast Cancer  (Beyond Pesticides, February 20, 2019)

Women exposed to DDT during ‘early windows of susceptibility’ in their childhood are at increased risk of developing breast cancer, according to new research published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

'These studies, and the predictable lag time between exposure, health impacts, and epidemiological data on those impacts should lead lawmakers and regulators to consider taking a more precautionary approach to the introduction of these chemicals into the environment.'

filed under cancer/Links between individual pesticides and cancer or pesticides and individual cancers

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

French, German farmers destroy crops after GMOs found in Bayer seeds

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French, German farmers destroy crops after GMOs found in Bayer seeds  (Reuters, 06/02/2019) The company producingthe seeds was formerly owned by Monsant. Seeds were produced in a non-gmo area of Argentina. Bayer is compensating affected farmers for economic loss. 

SNAP comment:I see two lessons in this:1. It's impossible to keep gmo seeds separate. 2. It's easier to get compensation for economic loss versus health problem 

filed under gmos/general

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

New study claimed to show safety of CRISPR shows the opposite

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New study claimed to show safety of CRISPR shows the opposite  (GM Watch: 29 January 2019)

'Such lobbyists aim to dismantle the EU's process-based GMO regulation, which acknowledges the inherent uncertainties of the GM process, and replace it with product-based regulation such as that of North America, where only the intended resulting product is assessed for risk.'

'Thus far, this is a well carried out study that breaks new ground in terms of separating the gene editing process into its different elements and working out which element caused how many of certain types of mutations.' 

'Their conclusion, "Our data support a recent call to 'Regulate genome-edited products, not genome editing itself'."  is 'entirely at odds with the authors' own findings. Their results show that the CRISPR process, taken as a whole, induces hundreds of procedurally induced mutations. They show that the process is inherently problematic. Thus regulation based only on what the end product is intended to be is obviously diametrically opposed to what the science – including the authors' own results – is telling us.'

filed under gmos

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Glyphosate use linked to phosphorus pollution in water bodies

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Glyphosate use linked to phosphorus pollution in water bodies (GM Watch, 30 January 2019)

'Estimating the supply of phosphorus (P) derived from glyphosate use, both globally and in the US alone, we show that trends have markedly increased over the past two decades. Across the US, mean inputs of glyphosate‐derived P increased from 1.6 kg P km−2 in 1993 to 9.4 kg P km−2 in 2014, with values frequently exceeding 20 kg P km−2 in areas planted with glyphosate‐resistant crops...Although still a minor source of P relative to fertilizers, P inputs from glyphosate use have now reached levels comparable to those from sources for which P regulations were initiated in the past. We thus argue for greater recognition of glyphosate's influence on P flow in watershed research and management.'

filed under water

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Bees face yet another lethal threat in dicamba, a drift-prone pesticide

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Bees face yet another lethal threat in dicamba, a drift-prone pesticide  (By Liza Gross, Reveal, January 23, 2019)

'From 2016 to 2017, U.S. honey production dropped 9 percent. Official statistics for 2018 have not been released.' Bee orders for pollination in California orchards have trouble being filled.'Coy became convinced that plummeting honey production at Coy’s Honey Farm, which is Arkansas’ largest beekeeping operation, was due to dicamba after reading one of Mortensen’s studies. The research showed that doses of dicamba that mimicked the drift associated with spraying the weed killer delayed flowering and reduced by half the number of flowers that plants produced and the number of pollinator visits.' Link to study 'Effects of the herbicide dicamba on nontarget plants and pollinator visitation' in article. 

filed under bee die-off

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Eating GM maize sprayed with Roundup increased death rate – study

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'Eating GM maize sprayed with Roundup increased death rate – study (GM Watch, 16 February 2019)

'The section of the paper reporting the results of the G-TwYST study states, "The mortality rate of the male rats fed the 33% NK603 + Roundup diet was significantly higher than that of the corresponding control group" fed non-GM maize."'

'However, the authors buried this finding in the detail of the study. They failed to make any mention of it whatsoever in the abstract. The abstract only states – falsely – that "no adverse effects related to the feeding of the NK603 maize cultivated with or without Roundup for up to 2 years were observed"'.

'This misrepresentation of the study findings raises the question of why scientists funded with EU taxpayers' money would apparently downplay such results, misleading the public and the scientific community.'

'The increased mortality in the males fed NK603 + Roundup was related to pituitary tumours, according to the Discussion section of the paper'although pituitary tumors occured at the same rate. Only the males in the Roundup-treated group were subject to overeating and being overweigth and the researchers did not research that. 

The analysis found potential conflict of interest. 'Many experts involved in G-TwYST and its affiliated EU-funded studies also had affiliations with industry or organisations funded by industry.'

SNAP Comment: One should also question.how the study made it to a prre-reviewed journal with wrong conclusions......

filed under industry shenanigans/Inteference with Research and Research Publication 

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Outcry grows over fired Agriculture Ministry whistleblower, as CAQ dodges questions

Quebec story

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Outcry grows over fired Agriculture Ministry whistleblower, as CAQ dodges questions
Quebec story (CBC News,  Feb 14, 2019)  'Pressure is increasing on the Coalition Avenir Québec government to reinstate a whistleblower fired from his job last month after exposing private-sector meddling in pesticide research...Radio-Canada reported that industry representatives were pressuring scientists to avoid publicizing findings that demonstrated neonicotinoids — a class of insecticides — are harmful to bees and other pollinating insects.'
filed under  industry shenanigans/ Inteference with Research and Research Publication
 

Monday, February 18, 2019

Drinking Water Contaminated with Neonicotinoid Insecticide Byproducts

US study

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Drinking Water Contaminated with Neonicotinoid Insecticide Byproducts

(Beyond Pesticides, February 8, 2019)  'The experts discovered two metabolites of imidacloprid (a neonicotinoid insecticide) residues that had not previously been identified in drinking water — desnitro-imidacloprid and imidacloprid-urea. The researchers note both that these metabolites have never been evaluated for their potential risks to human and environmental health, and that there may be potential risks of anthropogenic compounds that can be created when water with neonicotinoid residues, and thus, these metabolites, undergo typical water treatment (often chlorination and/or pH treatment)...The presence of neonics in drinking water is concerning per se, because federal regulators have never addressed what might be “safe” levels of such insecticides in tap water,

filed under water and neonicotinoids

Monday, February 18, 2019

EPA-Registered Herbicide Found to Trigger Inflammation Linked to Onset of Multiple Sclerosis

Linuron, recently banned in Europe

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EPA-Registered Herbicide Found to Trigger Inflammation Linked to Onset of Multiple Sclerosis

(Beyond Pesticides, February 5, 2019)  'Researchers began their investigation with 976 chemicals identified by EPA’s ToxCast program, an inventory of compounds that have undergone screening for a battery of laboratory tests. Within that inventory, 75 chemicals, including linuron, were found to interfere with the signaling pathways linked to MS...“When we study inflammation and neurodegeneration, we learn that the environment may play just as important of a role as genetics,” Dr. Quintana noted.'

SNAP Comment: This is the first time I come across the term exposome which can be defined as the measure of all the exposures of an individual in a lifetime and how those exposures relate to health. There are currently 7 Linuron products registered in Canada where they can be used on saskatoon, chokecherry, potatoe, grain crops and more.

filed under health/immune/auto-immune diseases

Monday, February 18, 2019

Study Predicts Demise of Insects within Decades if Pesticide Dependence Continues

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Study Predicts Demise of Insects within Decades if Pesticide Dependence Continues

(Beyond Pesticides, February 11, 2019) 'A new systematic review of insect population studies worldwide reports on “the dreadful state of insect biodiversity in the world, as almost half of the species are rapidly declining and a third are being threatened with extinction.” The study concludes with the dire prediction that insects as a whole will go extinct in the next few decades if patterns of intensive agriculture, in particular pesticide use, continue...One in every three insect species monitored worldwide is threatened with extinction. Even more concerning is the finding that 41% of insect species worldwide are in decline, outpacing the more well-publicized vertebrate declines by 200%...More than half of the studies that Drs. Sánchez-Bayo and Wyckhuys review point directly to intensive agriculture and increased reliance on agrochemicals as causal factors driving insect declines. Several more consider pesticides to be the most likely agent responsible for insect declines, masked under the category of “unexplained factors”... “Several multivariate and correlative statistical analyses confirm that the impact of pesticides on biodiversity is larger than that of other intensive agricultural practices…” 

filed under pesticides and wildlife/insects

Monday, February 18, 2019

Acute Pesticide Incidents May Lead to Loss of Smell

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Acute Pesticide Incidents May Lead to Loss of Smell

(Beyond Pesticides, January, 23, 2019) 'Analyzing data from questions asked during the original 1993 survey, researchers found that farmers that reported a history of HPEE at the outset were 49% more likely to experience olfactory impairment than farmers that did not...But scientists found that the route of exposure mattered little, with farmers reporting roughly the same loss of smell whether the HPEE involved either internal or dermal impacts. Significant associations were also found for particular pesticides. Specifically, two legacy organochlorine insecticides, DDT and lindane, as well as the herbicides alachlormetolachlor2,4-D, and pendimethalin were all singled out within the study.

Monday, February 18, 2019

Occurrence of Neonicotinoid Insecticides in Finished Drinking Water and Fate during Drinking Water Treatment

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Occurrence of Neonicotinoid Insecticides in Finished Drinking Water and Fate during Drinking Water Treatment   (Kathryn L. Klarich et al, Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett., 2017, 4 (5), pp 168–173, April 5, 2017)

'Neonicotinoid insecticides are widespread in surface waters across the agriculturally intensive Midwestern United States. We report for the first time the presence of three neonicotinoids in finished drinking water and demonstrate their general persistence during conventional water treatment...Clothianidin, imidacloprid, and thiamethoxam were ubiquitously detected in finished water samples at concentrations ranging from 0.24 to 57.3 ng/L Samples collected along the University of Iowa treatment train indicate no apparent removal of clothianidin or imidacloprid, with modest thiamethoxam removal (∼50%). In contrast, the concentrations of all neonicotinoids were substantially lower in the Iowa City treatment facility finished water using granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration. 

filed under water and neonicotinoids

Monday, February 18, 2019

Adding to Residue Studies, Report Documents Toxic Pesticides in Common Foods Sold by Major Retailers

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Adding to Residue Studies, Report Documents Toxic Pesticides in Common Foods Sold by Major Retailers  (Beyond Pesticides, February 13, 2019)  

"The report, Toxic Secret, found store and name brand foods produced and sold by the top four U.S. food retailers — Kroger (NYSE:KR), Walmart (NYSE: WMT), Costco (NYSE:COST) and Albertsons — contain residues of toxic pesticides linked to a range of serious health and environmental problems."

"The FOE study finds that oat cereals, apples, applesauce, spinach and pinto beans at the retailers contained detectable amounts of glyphosate, organophosphates and neonicotinoids. The average level of glyphosate found in cereal samples (360 parts per billion) was more than twice the level set by scientists at Environmental Working Group for lifetime cancer risk for children. The average level of glyphosate found in pinto beans (509 ppb) was more than 4.5 times the benchmark.*"   also mentions brands tested.

filed under pesticides in food

Monday, February 18, 2019

Bug Bombs Don’t Work – At All, According to Study

For cockroaches. All the fogger products contained pyrethroids,

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Bug Bombs Don’t Work – At All, According to Study

(Beyond Pesticides, January, 30, 2019) '“In a cost-benefit analysis, you’re getting all costs and no benefits,” said Zachary DeVries, PhD, co-author of the study. “Bug bombs are not killing cockroaches; they’re putting pesticides in places where the cockroaches aren’t; they’re not putting pesticides in places where cockroaches are and they’re increasing pesticide levels in the home...Tests conducted one month after the bug bombs were released still showed pesticide residue levels 34% higher levels originally found in resident’s homes”

All the fogger products contained pyrethroids. Learn about alternatives to pesticides for cockroach infestations  under Additional info.

filed under pyrethrins

Sunday, February 17, 2019

AAAS "reassessing" award to public interest scientists

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AAAS "reassessing" award to public interest scientists (GMWatch, 08 February 2019)

'The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) says it's "reassessing" its previous decision to give the 2019 Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility to two Sri Lankan scientists who uncovered an association between glyphosate herbicide exposure and chronic kidney disease in farmers in areas with hard water.'

'And in the case of this particular award, the conclusiveness of the researchers' findings on glyphosate is irrelevant. As Prof Jack Heinemann of the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, said on Twitter, "Whether or not the link between glyphosate (or formulation) and kidney disease is right misses the point. A scientific freedom award is given for persecution. If you only give it for proven science, it would be delayed decades and it would only benefit those who persecute." 'If the AAAS does decide to withdraw its award to the Sri Lankan scientists, that will send a clear message to the public about the suppression of science. Ironically, of course, it was the now-suppressed AAAS press release which noted that jeopardizing the profits of the glyphosate industry has come with serious “consequences” for Drs Gunatilake and Jayasumana.'
filed under  industry shenanigans/ Inteference with Research and Research Publication

Sunday, February 17, 2019

Loss of Italian market for Canadian wheat treated with pre-harvest glyphosate

Radio-Canada report

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Les Italiens boudent le blé canadien au glyphosate (Radio Canada, La Semaine Verte,  15 février 2019) 

Fascinating that when the Canadian reports cereal grain testing for glyphosate, they have apparently removed the main grains: wheat, oats and corn from the analysis. The contamination tables are included in this article. 36.6% contamination of minor cereal crops on which glyphosate is not used pre-harvest indicates a wide environmental contamination. Table of wheat, oats and corn contamination also included with respective numbers of 80, 74 and 26%.Exports of Canadian wheat to Italy has dropped 70% because our wheat does not meet the lower glyphosate contamination standard developed after glyphosate was found to widely contaminate Italian pasta (from 10 ppm -Italian norm- to, 0,1 ppm). (Le reportage de Catherine Mercier et Bernard Laroche est diffusé à l'émission La semaine verte, samedi, à 17 h, à ICI Radio-Canada Télé.)

filed under pesticides in food 

Friday, February 15, 2019

Industrial Agriculture Poisoning Wells and Streams

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Industrial Agriculture Poisoning Wells and Streams (Mercola, February 06, 2019)

based on US data. For pesticides in water and specifically in Saskatchewan

'The results of the study found there are no pristine streams left as the minimum number of pesticides detected in the water at any site reached 28. During the three-month sampling period an average of 54 pesticides were found at each site.

Streams with higher levels of nitrogen and phosphorus found in fertilizer and animal wastes were more likely to have degraded invertebrates and fish communities. Nitrate accounted for the most total nitrogen and was an important stressor identified for fish.'

Thursday, February 14, 2019

Exposure to Glyphosate-Based Herbicides and Risk for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma: A Meta-Analysis and Supporting Evidence

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Exposure to Glyphosate-Based Herbicides and Risk for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma: A Meta-Analysis and Supporting Evidence (Mutation Research/Reviews in Mutation Research, Available online 10 February 2019)

'Overall, in accordance with evidence from experimental animal and mechanistic studies, our current meta-analysis of human epidemiological studies suggests a compelling link between exposures to GBHs and increased risk for NHL.'

filed under health/cancer and fact sheets/glyphosate

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Pesticides found in more than 80% of tested European soils

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Pesticides found in more than 80% of tested European soils
(PhysOrg,January 18, 2019, CORDIS)

'Pesticide residues were found in 83% of the analysed agricultural soils in 166 different pesticide combinations. The most common mixtures detected at the highest concentrations were the controversial weedkiller glyphosate and its metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid, followed by the commonly used pesticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (banned in the EU in 1986), and the broad-spectrum fungicides boscalid, epoxiconazole and tebuconazole'

'We are increasingly seeing the negative side of chemically intensive system of food production. Today, 2,000 pesticides with 500 chemical substances are being used in Europe. However, data on how such substances affect soil quality is incomplete and fragmented, and fails to clearly reflect their overall impact on soil systems and human health.'

filed under Pesticides in soil

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Glyphosate and other toxins in throw away diapers (in French)

un risque pour la santé des enfants. Le gouvernement demande aux fabricants d’éliminer ces produits.

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Du glyphosate et des substances chimiques dangereuses dans les couches jetables pour bébés. Une expertise inédite de l’Anses conclut à un risque pour la santé des enfants. Le gouvernement demande aux fabricants d’éliminer ces produits.(by Stéphane Mandard. Le Monde, le 22 janvier 2019) 

Le Monde is an important paper from France. For those who don't speak French, glyphosate was one of over 60 toxic substances identified in throw away diapers. There were also several other pesticides, some which have been banned 15 years ago (lindane, quintozène, hexachlorobenzène).Throw away diapers also contained many problematic fragrances, PCBs and VOC (volatile organic compoinds) such as (naphtalène, styrène, toluène, etc.) (By the way, naphthalene is also an insecticide found in mothballs).

" Et de nombreuses substances parfumantes, comme l’alcool benzylique ou le butylphényl. Ou encore des polychlorobiphényles (PCB), des dioxines, des composés organiques volatiles (naphtalène, styrène, toluène, etc.), des hydrocarbures aromatiques polycycliques (HAP), que l’on retrouve habituellement dans la fumée de cigarette ou des moteurs diesel."

filed under Exposure and Children

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

New study links deaths of Bangladeshi children to chemicals sprayed on lychee

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New study links deaths of Bangladeshi children to chemicals sprayed on lychee (bdnews.com, 25 Jul 2017)

“By working closely with the affected communities and earning their trust, researchers were able to identify the potential role of agricultural chemicals in this outbreak. Community education and improved oversight of pesticide use will be needed to help reduce the risk of future tragedies... Local residents told the investigators that it was common for children to play in the orchards and to eat fruit that had fallen on the ground without washing it, using their teeth to peel the lychee’s tough skin...Islam said physical evidence collected from the orchards, which included discarded containers of insecticides and other chemicals, and interviews with community residents suggested that “multiple chemicals were applied to the fruit and in amounts far greater than are normally used by other lychee producers”.'

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

New Legal/Litigation Page

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New Legal/Litigation Page

As I hear of more pesticide harm cases going to court, I felt it necessary to have a page to refer to these items. 

Sunday, February 3, 2019

Crisis of Confidence in Canada’s Pesticide Police

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Crisis of Confidence in Canada’s Pesticide Police   (Friends of the Earth MR, January 30, 2019)

“Apparently, Monsanto has not only polluted Canada’s environment but also our regulatory process” says Olivastri. “Today’s briefing for Canadian Parliamentarians will reveal the history of scientific interference and collusion by Monsanto personnel with the US regulator, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). On our side of the border, Canada’s PMRA has clearly stated they’ve worked hand-in-glove with US EPA on their re-registration decision of glyphosate, since 2010.”

Traveling from California, to speak in Ottawa, Michael Baum, an Attorney at Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman observed, “Based on our successful disclosure of Monsanto’s paper trail, the jury also found that Monsanto acted with malice, oppression or fraud and should be punished for its conduct. This determination should ring warning bells for Canadian Parliamentarians.”

Sunday, February 3, 2019

New Analysis: Curbing Pesticides Key to Reversing Insect Apocalypse

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New Analysis: Curbing Pesticides Key to Reversing Insect Apocalypse  More Than 40 Percent of World's Insect Species on Fast-track to Extinction (Center for Biological Diversity,February 1, 2019)


SNAP Comment: The Canadian PMRA uses the same model as the US EPA to evaluate pesticides. The comments below fit Canada as well.


'The meta-analysis of 73 studies assessing insect declines over a period of at least 10 years found that industrial farming practices driving habitat loss and extensive use of pesticides and fertilizers is associated with 47 percent of reported declines....The decline of widely ranging generalist insect species shows that habitat loss, alone, is not enough to explain insect declines. Mounting evidence now demonstrates that a significant driver is the widespread use of pesticides and fertilizers.'
“We know neonicotinoid pesticides are a major cause of bee decline and are working to ban them, but this review highlights the urgent need for sweeping pesticide reform,” Cornelisse said. “That reform must start with the EPA replacing its long, troubling embrace of pesticide makers with a truly independent review process for assessing these dangerous poisons.”


filed in  pesticides effects on wildlife/ insects  
 

Saturday, February 2, 2019

Rigging the Science of GMO Ecotoxicity

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Rigging the Science of GMO Ecotoxicity (by Jonathan Latham, PhD, Independent Science Newsfor Food and Agriculture,January 29, 2019)

'They report that these new “artificial diet systems” for raising non-target organisms contain surprisingly large amounts of antibiotics (Li et al., 2014; Ali et al., 2016a; and Ali et al. 2016b). The significance of this is that antibiotics are known to act as antidotes to Cry toxins (Broderick et al., 2006, Mason et al., 2011). By masking the harm caused by the toxin, antibiotics can give the unsuspecting reader a false impression of Cry harmlessness.'

filed under industry shenanigans/ Interference with Research

Saturday, February 2, 2019

U.S. judge to allow controversial evidence in Roundup cancer trials

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U.S. judge to allow controversial evidence in Roundup cancer trials   (by Tina Bellon, CNBC, from Reuters. Jan, 28 2019)

'Under Chabria’s order, that evidence would be allowed only if glyphosate was found to have caused plaintiff Edwin Hardeman’s cancer and the trial proceeded to a second phase to determine Bayer’s liability.'

filed under Legal/Litigation

Friday, January 18, 2019

Bacteria In Worms Make A Mosquito Repellent That Might Beat DEET

not marketed yet

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Bacteria In Worms Make A Mosquito Repellent That Might Beat DEET  (by Jonathan Lambert,NPR, January 16, 2019) 

filed under alternatives to pesticides/insects/ Additional information on certain pests

Friday, January 18, 2019

Glyphosate Objectors’ Concerns Are Heightened Following Replies from Health Canada

Responses Dismiss Key Science and Lack Transparency

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Glyphosate Objectors’ Concerns Are Heightened Following Replies from Health Canada (being released January 14, 2019 online)
 
Responses Dismiss Key Science and Lack Transparency
Canadians at Risk, With no Independent Review of Roundup Herbicide

'In briefings by PMRA officials on January 11, 2019, responses to questions from objectors revealed that public health, toxic metals in food and soil quality were summarily dismissed as being outside of the scope of pesticides assessment (see below).'

Also quotes from objectors.
 

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

How did the US EPA and IARC reach opposite conclusions about glyphosate’s genotoxicity?

New analysis shows EPA relied on secret industry studies, which found ‘no effect’ from glyphosate, rather than published studies, which mostly found the chemical was genotoxic

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How did the US EPA and IARC reach opposite conclusions about glyphosate’s genotoxicity? (from Charles Benbrook's article, GM Watch, 14 January 2019) 

'The article shows that only by framing and constraining its genotoxicity assessment in a highly selective and biased way was the EPA able to conclude that glyphosate was not genotoxic. It also demonstrates that the EPA's cancer classification – as well as EFSA’s, which was based on the same data and was reached in a similar way – is scientifically baseless. Overall, the article shows that the way pesticides are assessed for risk is not fit for purpose and exposes people and the environment to unacceptable risks.'

'The paper is authored by Dr Charles Benbrook and is published in Environmental Sciences Europe. '

SNAP Comment: Wow! testing formulations and regulating seeds treated with pesticides as pesticides rather than exempting them. In 2003 through the Regulatory Directive: Harmonization of Regulation of Pesticide Seed Treatment in Canada and the United States, treated seeds are not regulated as pesticides either. 

Sunday, January 13, 2019

Settlement Bans Some Bee-Toxic Pesticides, Requires Public Comment Period on Testing All Pesticide Product Ingredients and Regulating Pesticide-Treated Seeds

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Settlement Bans Some Bee-Toxic Pesticides, Requires Public Comment Period on Testing All Pesticide Product Ingredients and Regulating Pesticide-Treated Seeds  (Beyond Pesticides, January 4, 2019) 

'The settlement sets in motion a number of actions and expectations, among which is the potential cancellation of the 59 pesticide registrations. The first public action was the posting in the Federal Register of two notices of EPA seeking public comment on petitions from CFS. One requests the revision of testing requirements for pesticides prior to their registration — including requiring “testing for whole pesticide formulations to account for the toxicological effects of inert and adjuvant ingredients and the testing of tank mixes to assess the interaction between pesticide ingredients. CFS believes this change is needed to meet the applicable safety standards of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).” The second requests that EPA “initiate a rulemaking or issue a formal Agency interpretation for planted seeds treated with systemic insecticides. CSF believes that the Agency EPA has improperly applied the treated article exemption in exempting these products from registration and labeling requirements under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).” Comments on both, which are due on or before March 21, 2019, can be directed as described here.'

SNAP Comment: Wow! testing formulations and regulating seeds treated with pesticides as pesticides rather than exempting them. 

Sunday, January 13, 2019

Glyphosate is Genotoxic to Human White Blood Cells at Low Concentrations

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Glyphosate is Genotoxic to Human White Blood Cells at Low Concentrations  (By Henry Rowlands, GMO Evidence, October 24th, 2018)  link to full paper.

 'Human lymphocytes were exposed to five glyphosate concentrations: 0.500, 0.100, 0.050, 0.025, and 0.0125 μg/mL, where 0.500 μg/mL represents the established acceptable daily intake value, and the other concentrations were tested in order to establish the genotoxicity threshold for this compound. We observed that chromosomal aberration (CA) and micronuclei (MNi) frequencies significantly increased at all tested concentrations, with exception of 0.0125 μg/mL.'

filed under fact sheets/glyphosate

Sunday, January 13, 2019

Is Your Yoga Mat or Gym Breeding Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria?

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Is Your Yoga Mat or Gym Breeding Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria?  (Beyond Pesticides, January 2, 2019)

'Every antibacterial chemical tested by researchers showed up in every facility investigated. Gyms, rooms with higher moisture levels, and those with carpeted flooring all had elevated levels of antibacterials compared to other facilities.'

'Most concerning is the finding that the number of microbes with antibiotic resistant genes was higher in facilities with elevated concentrations of triclosan and its chemical cousin triclocarban. And the type of resistance microbes display is not limited to triclosan—they exhibit a diverse range of resistance measures. “Those genes do not code for resistance to triclosan,” Dr. Hartmann clarifies. “They code for resistance to medically relevant antibiotic drugs.”'

filed under Resistance

Sunday, January 13, 2019

Health Canada upholds decision to keep glyphosate weed killers on the market

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Health Canada upholds decision to keep glyphosate weed killers on the market (Globe and Mail, 11 January 2019)

“How can we trust the science if we can’t be sure that it’s independent?” she said.

Muhannad Malas, the toxics program manager at Environmental Defence, said there is no reason to trust Health Canada if it assigns its own scientists to review the work of their peers.

SNAP Comment: I wonder if the PMRA will make their review document and decision public. It is important to understand WHO the 20 scientists were on the committee (to ensure they have no ties to industry), whether the studies considered in the review are industry produced or sponsored (most of them likely are), and which studies were eliminated from the assessment for whatever reason. It is also good to remember that neither the PMRA or the EPA have kept up with the science of low dose toxicity. The panel of studies to be conducted has not been updated since 1984 with the exception of one apparently already outdated type of endocrine disruption study for a few selected suspected pesticides by the EPA after they were taken to court to establish it.

Monday, January 7, 2019

U.S. judge limits evidence in trial over Roundup cancer claims

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U.S. judge limits evidence in trial over Roundup cancer claims  (Reuters, by Tina Bellon,  January 3, 2019) 

Is this a ploy to make the guilty walk free?

There are always two kind of science:
1. the one industry paid for, which as been shown over and over again to be biased towards their products. For a long time this was the only 'science' available for glyphosate. Industry studies for regulatory purposes, made practically unavailable for analysis or comments by independent researchers.
2. The problems, as always, occurred when independent researchers started repeating these studies and found damning results. So the thousands of studies 'proving' safety have been shown to be nothing but unreviewed and often misinterpreted industry studies.

It is also good to remember that if a study indicated a link to health problems it did not have to be submitted to regulators. A similar pesticide glyphosine was also one of the pesticides grandfathered into use (pending new studies which may or may not have been done) after the IBT scandal (1976-81) where this lab and many others were charged with fraud for manufacturing data.

Saturday, January 5, 2019

Don t want antibiotics sprayed on your citrus? Sorry – it’s about to expand, big-time

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Don’t want antibiotics sprayed on your citrus? Sorry – it’s about to expand, big-time. (Florida Phoenix, by Julie Hauserman, January 2, 2019)

'Federal officials are allowing greatly expanded use of streptomycin and oxytetracycline –  antibiotics often used on people — as a pesticide on commercially grown citrus. Agricultural operations plan to use the antibiotic sprays to combat the widespread disease called citrus greening, which has devastated the citrus industry. The antibiotics won’t cure the disease, and will have to be sprayed repeatedly over years just to keep the trees alive and producing fruit until they succumb to citrus greening.'

'Allowing so much antibiotic residue in Florida soils, runoff, and air is unprecedented. It’s unclear how much of the antibiotics – sprayed on leaves and taken up into the plant’s vascular system – will end up in fruit; it’s never been sprayed on this scale before. Test results the citrus industry provided to federal officials reported low antibiotic residues.'

'Scientists at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency expressed concern, but ultimately ruled that the economic benefits outweigh the agency’s concerns about antibiotic resistance and potential harm to the environment, people, and wildlife.'